| 2016 Tire Bank KBO League | |
| League: | KBO League |
| Sport: | Baseball |
| Pixels: | 200px |
| Duration: | April 1 – October 9 |
| No Of Games: | 144 per team |
| No Of Teams: | 10 |
| Attendance: | 8,339,577 |
| Season: | Regular Season |
| Season Champs: | Doosan Bears |
| Mvp: | Dustin Nippert (Doosan) |
| Mvp Link: | KBO League Most Valuable Player Award |
| Playoffs: | Postseason |
| Conf1: | Wild Card |
| Conf1 Champ: | LG Twins |
| Conf1 Runner-Up: | KIA Tigers |
| Conf2: | Semi-playoffs |
| Conf2 Champ: | LG Twins |
| Conf2 Runner-Up: | Nexen Heroes |
| Conf3: | Playoffs |
| Conf3 Champ: | NC Dinos |
| Conf3 Runner-Up: | LG Twins |
| Finals: | Korean Series |
| Finals Link: | 2016 Korean Series |
| Finals Champ: | Doosan Bears |
| Finals Runner-Up: | NC Dinos |
| Finals Mvp: | Yang Eui-ji (Doosan) |
| Finals Mvp Link: | Korean Series Most Valuable Player Award |
| Seasonslist: | List of KBO League seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | KBO League |
| Prevseason Link: | 2015 KBO League season |
| Prevseason Year: | 2015 |
| Nextseason Link: | 2017 KBO League season |
| Nextseason Year: | 2017 |
The 2016 KBO League season was the 35th season in the history of the Korea Professional Baseball League.
Each KBO team played 144 games during the regular season with all teams playing each other 16 times. The 144-game-schedule began in the 2015 season due to the addition of the KT Wiz. During the 2014 season, each team had played 128 games.
On July 16, the best players participated in the 2016 KBO All-Star Game at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. The participating franchises were divided into two regions, the Dream All-Stars (Samsung Lions, Doosan Bears, Lotte Giants, SK Wyverns, KT Wiz) and Nanum All-Stars (Kia Tigers, Hanwha Eagles, LG Twins, Nexen Heroes, NC Dinos). The Nanum All-Star team emerged victorious with an 8–4 victory over the Dream All-Star Team in front of a sold-out crowd of 16, 300 fans. Doosan Bears outfielder Min Byung-hun, who hit two home runs during the game, was named the MVP of the game. The KBO All-Star Game however does not determine home-field advantage in the Korean Series.[4]
The 2016 KBO League season culminates in its championship series, known as the Korean Series. Before the 2015 season, the Semi-playoff format was tweaked. Previously, the top four teams after the end of the regular season qualified for the postseason, but in 2015, the top five teams qualified for the postseason. The team with the best record gained a direct entry into the Korean Series, while the other four teams competed for the remaining place in a step-ladder playoff system. Starting in 2015, the fourth-place and the fifth-place teams played in a "Wildcard" game/series.
| Rank | Team | D | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 93 | 50 | 1 | 0.650 | — | Korean Series | |
| 2 | 83 | 58 | 3 | 0.589 | 9 | Playoff | |
| 3 | 77 | 66 | 1 | 0.538 | 16 | Semi-playoff | |
| 4 | 71 | 71 | 2 | 0.500 | 21½ | Wild Card | |
| 5 | 70 | 73 | 1 | 0.490 | 23 | ||
| 6 | 69 | 75 | 0 | 0.479 | 24½ | Did not qualify | |
| 7 | 66 | 75 | 3 | 0.468 | 26 | ||
| 8 | 66 | 78 | 0 | 0.458 | 27½ | ||
| 9 | 65 | 78 | 1 | 0.455 | 28 | ||
| 10 | 53 | 89 | 2 | 0.373 | 39½ |
The series started with a 1–0 advantage for the fourth-placed team.
See main article: 2016 Korean Series.
Each team could have signed up to three foreign players. Due to the high proportion of pitchers signed in previous years, beginning in 2014 the league mandated that at least one of the foreign players must be a position player. Also with the KT Wiz being an expansion team that started play in 2015, they were given an exemption and were allowed to sign four foreign players instead of just the normally allowed three.
| Team | Player | Position | In KBO since | Salary | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | 2016 | $850,000 | |||
| Pitcher | 2016 | $500,000 | Released | ||
| Pitcher | 2016 | $500,000[6] | Signed to replace Collin Balester | ||
| Infielder | 2016 | $950,000 | |||
| Pitcher | 2015 | $750,000 | |||
| Pitcher | 2014 | $900,000 | |||
| Infielder | 2013 | $1,500,000 | KBO All-Star | ||
| Pitcher | 2011 | $1,200,000 | KBO All-Star, KBO MVP | ||
| Pitcher | 2016 | $650,000 | pitched no-hitter on 6/30/16 against NC Dinos | ||
| First Baseman / Outfielder | 2016 | $550,000 | |||
| Pitcher | 2015 | $580,000 | Released mid-season; picked up by KT Wiz | ||
| Pitcher | 2016 | $550,000 | Released | ||
| First Baseman / Outfielder | 2016 | $750,000 | |||
| Pitcher | 2016 | $150,000 | Signed to replace Robert Coello | ||
| Pitcher | 2015 | $750,000 | KBO All-Star | ||
| Pitcher | 2013 | $500,000 | Released | ||
| Infielder | 2016 | $650,000 | |||
| Pitcher | 2016 | $230,000 | Signed to replace Chris Seddon | ||
| Pitcher | 2015 | $1,900,000 | Released | ||
| Alex Maestri[7] | Pitcher | 2016 | ¥50,000,000 (about $440,000) | Released | |
| Catcher / Infielder | 2016 | $1,300,000 | KBO All-Star | ||
| Pitcher | 2016 | $250,000 | Signed to replace Alex Maestri | ||
| Pitcher | 2016 | $450,000 | Signed to replace Esmil Rogers | ||
| Pitcher | 2016 | $1,700,000 | KBO All-Star | ||
| Pitcher | 2016 | $700,000 | |||
| Infielder | 2014 | $900,000 | |||
| Pitcher | 2015 | $1,200,000 | |||
| Pitcher | 2015 | $680,000 | |||
| Outfielder | 2015 | $780,000 | Released | ||
| Outfielder | 2016 | $280,000 | Signed to replace Jim Adduci | ||
| Pitcher | 2012 | $900,000 | |||
| Infielder | 2015 | $900,000 | KBO All-Star | ||
| Pitcher | 2016 | $750,000[8] | Released | ||
| Pitcher | 2016 | $550,000 | Signed to replace Scott Copeland | ||
| KT Wiz[9] | Pitcher | 2016 | $500,000 | ||
| Pitcher | 2016 | $600,000 | Released | ||
| Pitcher | 2014 | $600,000 | |||
| Infielder | 2015 | $850,000 | |||
| Pitcher | 2016 | $220,000 | Signed to replace Sugar Ray Marimón |
| Team | Player | Batting Average | Home runs | RBI | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .308 | 24 | 81 | |||
| .321 | 33 | 120 | KBO All-Star | ||
| .313 | 20 | 86 | |||
| .265 | 22 | 74 | |||
| .308 | 26 | 102 | KBO All-Star | ||
| .291 | 7 | 41 | Released by the team | ||
| .288 | 4 | 16 | |||
| .321 | 40 | 121 | |||
| .295 | 16 | 70 | |||
| .266 | 8 | 33 | |||
| .283 | 21 | 62 | |||
| Team | Total attendance | Home average |
|---|---|---|
| Doosan Bears | 1,165,020 | 16,180 |
| LG Twins | 1,157,646 | 16,078 |
| SK Wyverns | 865,194 | 12,016 |
| Lotte Giants | 852,639 | 11,842 |
| Samsung Lions | 851,417 | 11,825 |
| Nexen Heroes | 782,121 | 10,862 |
| KIA Tigers | 773,499 | 10,743 |
| KT Wiz | 682,444 | 9,478 |
| Hanwha Eagles | 660,472 | 9,173 |
| NC Dinos | 549,125 | 7,627 |