"Will KIA be the best again this year?" Samsung and LG's pride in the end, and Hanwha's eye of a typhoon
"Will KIA be the best again this year?" Samsung and LG's pride in the end, and Hanwha's eye of a typhoon
Blog Article
In 2024, the year when the 10 million mark was opened for the first time in the baseball history, popular baseball team KIA led the box office by winning the combined championship for the first time in seven years, and Samsung and LG led the trend by forming the top ranks.스포츠토토
Kia has displayed strong aspiration to win the title in 2025 as well by showing bold moves to replace foreigners. Samsung and LG also displayed strong commitment to become president by beefing up their power in the stove league. On top of this, Hanwha, which announced its entry into the fall baseball league in line with the era of new stadiums, has also emerged as a dark horse that will shake up the ranks this year.
What will happen to the Korean pro baseball in 2025? With the stove league of each team, including recruitment of free agents and replacement of foreigners, we can assess the performance of the 10 teams this year.
For now, Kia has almost no leaks in its history to win last year's championship. Jang Hyun-sik, a must-win bullpen pitcher, was sidelined by signing a four-year contract of up to 5.2 billion won (approx. He also recruited Cho Sang-woo, the "relief king" from Kiwoom in 2020. Although he also had little money loss including 1 billion won (approx. Lim Ki-young, a sidearm player, was also appointed at 1.5 billion won (approx.
Notably, Kia has deployed strong force to replace its foreign hitter Socrates Brito. Socrates had a batting average of 316 home runs and 97 RBIs in 140 games last year, but failed to renew his contract. Instead, Kia recruited Patrick Wisdom, a right-handed slugger and first baseman who hit 20 or more home runs for three consecutive years in the Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2021 to 23, for 1 million dollars. James Nail and Adam Oler, who played as ace this year, formed a one-two punch.
Samsung, the runner-up team of last year's Samsung Group, was also strong in the stove league. It recruited right-hander Choi Won-tae for a total of 7 billion won (approx. Choi Won-tae is expected to balance the situation by joining the mound of Kim Jae-yoon, Lim Chang-min, and Oh Seung-hwan, who ranked second in ERA (4.97) last year.
LG, the 2023 champion, has also been busy during the off-season in order to regain the top position for the first time in two years. Following Jang Hyun-sik, the team has also recruited Doosan right-hander Kim Kang-ryul, who is considered a "jamsil rival," for a total of 1.4 billion won (three plus one year). The team has strengthened its bullpen by appointing left-hander Choi Chae-heung as a compensation player for Choi Won-tae. Two years ago, LG won the title by ranking first in ERA (3.43), but only ranked sixth (5.21) last year, and is thus renewing commitment to rebound this year.
Hanwha will make a fresh start at its new home stadium, Baseball Dream Park, this year. The Korean team has strong aspiration to become a baseball player in fall, which had been sidelined since 2018. The team brought in Eom Sang-baek, a sidearm player who won 13 games (11 losses) last year at KT, for four years 7.8 billion won (6.37 million U.S. dollars), and also acquired Shim Woo-joon, an infielder, for five years. Existing Ryu Hyun-jin, Moon Dong-ju, Cody Ponce, and Ryan Weiss are expected to threaten the upper ranks by banking on their strongest starters.
KT lost two free agents to Hanwha, but brought veteran infielder Huh Kyung-min from Doosan for four years and four billion won (approx. Um Sang-baek's absence is expected to be filled by the Rookie of the Year award, Cho Hyung-joon. After undergoing elbow surgery in May 2023, Cho took the mound only as a bullpen session last year, but can play as a starter this year. The team has also made changes in its performance by allowing Kim Min, a must-winner, to SSG, and recruiting Oh Won-seok, a left-hander, but if there are no injury variables, it would be a good choice to advance to the post season.
Doosan failed to prevent power leaks caused by departures of Huh Kyung-min and Kim Kang-ryul. The team has replaced all foreigners, including left-hander duo Col Irvin and Jack Rogue and batter Jake Cave, with former big leaguers, and adapting to the KBO league is the key.
Last year, the sixth-ranked SSG minimized electricity leakage by placing Choi Jeong, the top home run player (495), 11 billion won for four years, and Noh Kyung-eun, a key bullpen player, at a total of 2.5 billion won for two plus one year. Lotte, the seventh-ranked team, also held onto its internal FA Kim Won-joong and Koo Seung-min, gave up Kim Min-seok in a trade with Doosan, and recruited Jeong Cheol-won, the 2022 Rookie of the Year. However, right-handed bullpen Kim Do-gyu has been suspended for 70 games for drunk driving.
NC failed to catch Kyle Hart, the left-hander who ranked first in strikeouts (182 times) and second in ERA (2.69) last year. Matt Davidson is the home run king (46), but it will not be easy to expect a significant improvement in the ranking from ninth this year. Kiwoom, the lowest ranking team, is aiming for the next year's championship as Kim Hye-sung announced his advance to the U.S. and Cho Sang-woo was released.