Furado → Samsung, Heysus → KT, Cho Sang-woo → KIA, Kim Hye-sung → LA Dodgers. Kiwoom is already in last place for 3 consecutive years? Will there be a twist?

Jan 04, 2025

Shohei Otani welcomed Kim Hye-sung to the LA Dodgers through his SNS. Shohei Ohtani SNS Capture

Cho Sang-woo, who will wear KIA uniform as a trade, is greeting through the club's YouTube channel. kiatigerstv YouTube video capture

I was in last place for 2 consecutive years. The Kiwoom Heroes, who finished second in the Korean Series in the 2022 season, began to rebuild in earnest as ace Ahn Woo-jin joined the military with surgery. By sending veteran Park Byung-ho, he solidified his will to raise a young player.

In 2023, Lee Jung-hoo was injured during the season, ranking 10th with 58 wins, 3 draws and 83 losses. The gap with the 9th-ranked Hanwha Eagles is 1.5 games. After the season, Kiwoom's power weakened further as Lee Jung-hoo announced his entry into the Major League and moved to the San Francisco Giants through posting. At the same time, Kiwoom worked harder to raise prospects.

Kiwoom's performance last year was also last place. It was 58 wins and 86 losses. It was four games behind the ninth-place NC Dinos. Foreign pitchers Ariel Furado (10-8) and Emmanuel de Heysus (13-11) led the way to the top, but they did not avoid the last place.

However, next year, the power will be lower. Furado and Heysus, who supported Kiwoom's starters, left. Furado moved to the Samsung Lions, and Heysus wore a KT Wiz uniform. They are pitchers who won 10 games in Kiwoom, which has weak power, so there are expectations that they will throw better. Kiwoom sent them off and brought batters Yasiel Puig and Ruben Cadines to new pitcher Kenny Rosenberg. It consists of one pitcher and two batters for foreign players. Considering Lee Jung-hoo's departure and Kim Hye-sung's departure, it was interpreted as a measure to consider the weakening of the lineup and to raise promising pitchers.

Heysus signs a contract with KT Wiz Photo courtesy of KT Wiz

The Samsung Lions signed former Kiwoom Ariel Furado. Photo courtesy of Samsung Lions

On top of that, closer Cho Sang-woo was sent to the KIA Tigers in a trade. It is a condition to receive two players in the first and fourth rounds of next year's rookie draft. Kiwoom will pick the first and 10th in the first round of the 2026 rookie draft, and the first in the second round immediately. They picked 1, 10, and 11 overall and selected a large number of promising players.

On top of that, Kim Hye-sung left for the Major League as predicted. On the 4th, he signed a three-year contract of $12.5 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers for up to five years of $22 million.

Kiwoom almost created a new team after missing two foreign starters, finishes, and central hitters who supported the team.

It is clear that the power has weakened. However, Kiwoom is a team that has always produced unexpected results by raising prospects despite its weak power. Nexen, which was expected to be at the bottom in 2016 when Park Byung-ho and Kang Jung-ho left, showed off their robustness by finishing third with 77 wins, 1 draw and 66 losses.

It is also interesting to see whether the recent effect of attracting prospects can show a meaningful process this season.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.