After 19 seasons in professional baseball, the last eight with the KT Wiz of the Korean Baseball Organization, infielder Jae-gyun Hwang is retiring.
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Hwang, who spent the 2017 season with the San Francisco Giants organization — including 18 games in the major leagues — announced his retirement Friday in a video published on the Wiz’s YouTube channel.
“The club made a good offer, but after much consideration I decided to retire,” Hwang said, according to the website Chosun. “Thanks to the fans who always cheered passionately, I was able to play as a professional player for 20 years.”
Hwang signed a minor league contract with the Giants in January 2017 that paid a prorated $1.5 million in the majors. The third baseman was 29 at the time, and coming off a career year in the KBO (.335/.394/.570 in 127 games).
Deal done with Hwang: $1.5M if he’s on #SFGiants‘ roster plus $1.6M in plate-appearance incentives, could be as much as $3.1M.
— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) January 24, 2017
But Hwang spent most of the 2017 season with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, and returned to his native Korea after just one year. He went 8-for-52 (.154) in the big leagues with one home run and five RBIs.
Hwang played a total of 2,106 games in the KBO from 2007-25, hitting 221 home runs and driving in 1,081. In 2025, he slashed .275/.336/.379 with seven home runs and 48 RBIs.
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