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| Lotte coach Kim Tae-hyung. Sports Chosun DB |
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| 손호영. Photo courtesy = Lotte Giants |
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| Jeong Cheol-won for the interview. Reporter Kim Young-rok |
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"There are both two FA this year and two FA next year. I want all four of you to join me."
This is what manager Kim Tae-hyung said at the inauguration ceremony of the Lotte Giants head coach at the end of October last year.
It was a word of affection and request for both the club and the FA players. There is no manager to be happy with the FA-induced power drain.
Last year, he succeeded in catching Jeon Joon-woo in the Captain, but An Chi-hong missed it. This year, Kim Won-joong and Koo Seung-min succeeded in sinking both A-class FA.
The total amount of contracts (based on four years) for the three internal FA is 12.2 billion won. In addition, the annual salary of the existing '17 billion trio (Yu Kang-nam Roh Jin-hyuk and Han Hyun-hee)' is also concentrated in the third to fourth years.
The salary cap is already up to the neck. Lotte ranked fifth among the 10 clubs with a total annual salary of 11.85 billion won this season. The competitive parallel tax (salary cap) standard amount of 11.42 billion won was only 276.2 million won, which was not narrowly exceeded.
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| Lotte manager Kim Tae-hyung and Lotte general manager Park Joon-hyuk. Sports Chosun DB |
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The LG Twins and KIA Tigers, the winners of the past two years, ranked first and second, followed by the Doosan Bears, a regular in autumn baseball, and the Samsung Lions, who have succeeded in advancing to the Korean Series this year. In particular, LG is the only team that exceeds the salary cap, and will pay 1.21489 million won, or 50% of the amount, to the Baseball Development Fund (luxury tax). On the other hand, Lotte ranked fifth overall after failing to advance to the fall baseball league for seven consecutive years.
At least, the KBO board of directors increased the standard amount by 20% in 2025. The standard for competitive equal tax in 2025 is 13.7 billion won. It increased by about 2 billion won from the previous one.
Still, it's tight. Lotte has yet to complete its squad contract for the 2025 season. After completing this season's work on the 13th, Lotte Club is scheduled to resume its work on January 2 next year and begin negotiations on the remaining salary.
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| Yoon Dong-hee, the core of Lotte's batting lineup reconstruction. Sports Chosun DB |
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Fortunately, there is not much difference. It is expected that there will be no problem in the first spring camp on January 24 next year. However, let alone participating in the recruitment of Eom Sang-baek or Shim Woo-joon of 5 billion won, it is hard to give a business card to a C-class FA. This is because a preliminary amount is also needed to recruit players who have been released or to trade during the season.
Manager Kim Tae-hyung is now in a position to advance to the fall baseball league without 'FA gift' for the second consecutive year. 'We're bringing the winning contractor to rebuild the building' can't help but sigh inside and outside the club.
Still, he put weight on fostering. He recruited a series of coaches who shared the honor with head coach Kim Tae-hyung. At the request of head coach Kim Tae-hyung, including head coach Kim Min-jae and bench coach Kim Kwang-soo, as well as Kim Min-ho, Joo Hyung-kwang, Lim Hoon, Go Young-min, Yoo Jae-shin, and Jung Sang-ho, the first-team coaches were renovated.
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| Choi Jun-yong dreaming of a revival next year. Photo courtesy = Lotte Giants |
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The player was acquired through an active trade. Jin Hae-soo, Kim Min-sung and Son Ho-young were added after sending out cherished prospects such as Kim Min-soo and Woo Kang-hoon from the rookie nomination rights. Even after the season, he gave up Kim Min-seok, Choo Jae-hyun, Choi Woo-in, and recruited Jung Chul-won and Jeon Min-jae. As long as Son Ho-young, whom head coach Kim Tae-hyung himself pointed out, hit the jackpot, a lot of expectations are also paid to Jung Chul-won and Jeon Min-jae.
During the season, battery coach Kang Sung-woo was urgently recruited, and after this season, head coach Cho Won-woo and pitching coach Kim Sang-jin were added. Even after the end of the season, an unscheduled overseas finishing camp was established. Lee Min-seok and Jung Hyun-soo were dispatched to Chiba Lotte's first-team camp, and they played defensive camps centered on young players.
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| Coach Kim Tae-hyung is thanking the team as they lined up on the ground after the match between KIA and Lotte at Sajik Stadium in Busan on the 28th. Busan = Reporter Jeong Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2024.9.28/ |
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During this season, manager Kim Tae-hyung said, `Last winter, the pitching staff focused on the batters, believing they had room. Contrary to expectations, the bullpen collapsed and suffered." Now that the batter's lineup has been rebuilt represented by 'Yoon Go-na Hwang-son', it's the pitching team's turn. Lotte is dreaming of another 'Kim Tae-hyung magic'
lunarfly@sportschosun.com
