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| LG Twins Jang Hyun-sik is making his first greeting to LG fans at the 'Love Giving Day" event held on the 16th. Photo courtesy = LG Twins |
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| Game 5 of the Korean Series between Samsung and KIA at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 28th. He won the Korean Series with a 7-5 victory in the top of the ninth inning. Socrates is enjoying the champagne ceremony. Gwangju = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.10.28/ |
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"I thought the best power would be until next year."
The KIA Tigers had their best season this year, winning their 12th combined championship ever. Coach Lee Bum-ho, who was newly appointed during the spring camp, was recognized for his leadership by raising the team to the top from his debut season, and the front office, including general manager Shim Jae-hak, continued to provide strong support to the field by transfusing new foreigners at a time when the release of foreign pitcher Will Crow (30) caused a big hole in his power. Amid the synergy between the field and the front office, KIA was able to overwhelm the remaining nine clubs.
Of course, Kia aims to win the title in the 2025 season. KIA's general manager Shim Jae-hak calmly expects to maintain his maximum power until next year. This is due to the aging of key players such as Choi Hyung-woo (41), Yang Hyun-jong (36) and Na Sung-bum (35). So this winter, I worked harder to strengthen my power. Foreign ace James Nail (31) was re-signed for a total of $1.8 million (about 2.6 billion won), and U.S. Major League Baseball starting pitcher Adam Oler (30) was brought in for a total of $1 million (about 1.4 billion won).
There was inevitable bleeding. Internal FA Jang Hyun-sik (29) left the team after signing a four-year contract of 5.2 billion won with the LG Twins. KIA tried to stay Jang Hyun-sik, a must-win group who boasts a career of 91 holds, but boldly gave up on LG's bet, which promised to guarantee the full 5.2 billion won.
Instead, he chose a bold trade. KIA surprised the baseball world by announcing a trade on the 19th that gave Kiwoom Heroes 1 billion won in cash and the first and fourth rounds of rookies in 2026 and received pitcher Cho Sang-woo (30). Fastball bullpen Cho Sang-woo was a player who quickly emerged as the best seller in this year's trade. Several clubs, including KIA, only drooled during the season, but KIA, which missed Jang Hyun-sik after the season, did not hesitate to embrace Cho Sang-woo this time. Cho Sang-woo, who has 88 saves and 54 holds in the KBO, is expected to be a great addition to the must-win group.
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| The 2021 KBO League Doosan Bears and Kiwoom Heroes match was held at Gocheok Sky Dome on the 28th. Cho Sang-woo, who struck out Kim Jae-hwan with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning, is delighted. Gocheok = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2021.4.28/ |
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| FA Lim Ki-young signed a three-year remaining contract with the KIA Tigers for a total of 1.5 billion won. Photo courtesy = KIA Tigers |
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KIA has also decided to break up with foreign hitter Socrates Brito (32). Socrates contributed to the championship by batting .310 (171 hits in 552 at-bats), 26 home runs, 97 RBIs, and 0.875 OPS in 140 games this year. Starting in 2022, the overall performance in the three KBO seasons is 409 games, a batting average of 0.302, 63 home runs, and 270 RBIs. It was a good performance to consider renewing the contract.
However, KIA wanted a batter with more weight than Socrates. This is why he signed a contract agreement with Patrick Wisdom (33), who has 88 home runs in the Major League.
General manager Shim said "When I signed Socrates last year, I thought the batting speed was a little better in the second season than in the first season. Socrates' batting direction had a strong tendency to pull, but it was expected that the possibility of hitting left-handed pitchers also increased due to restrictions on defensive shifts. He also showed very weak performance in left-handed pitchers' sliders, and he thought it would be okay until this season to overcome them little by little. Now Socrates' detailed statistics are good this year, with classic statistics such as batting average and number of home runs. However, he was a really good player, but he needed a more powerful foreign hitter, as there were some indicators that were falling a little bit in the detailed stat, and the record showed that the defense was falling a little bit in the radius of action"He explained the background of his separation from Socrates.
KIA has strengthened its power by upgrading foreign players to the next level and choosing to trade instead of recruiting external FA. On the 21st, he signed a three-year contract with pitcher Lim Ki-young (31) for a total of 1.5 billion won, cracking down on internal FA for the first time this winter. Lim Ki-young was a player with high team contribution between starting and bullpen, so KIA also actively negotiated. All that remains is to come to a conclusion with Seo Geon-chang (35) of the remaining internal FA.
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| A suspended match between Samsung and KIA in Game 1 of the Korean Series at Kia Champions Field in Gwangju on the 23rd. KIA came from behind to win 5-1. Coach Lee Bum-ho is applauding the players. Gwangju = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.10.23/ |
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