Lotte gave up its first round 'Little Lee Jung-hoo' in two seasons...Winnow is sincere with the 'fastball bullpen' that was desperately needed
Lotte gave up its first round 'Little Lee Jung-hoo' in two seasons...Winnow is sincere with the 'fastball bullpen' that was desperately needed
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A trade that has significant impact has occurred. The Lotte Giants, which effectively withdrew from the free agent market, has made a big impact in the trade market. Lotte strongly expressed its sincerity toward Winnow.
Lotte made a 3-2 trade with Doosan on Tuesday. It gave up outfielders Kim Min-seok, Choo Jae-hyun and pitcher Choi Woo-in, and brought in pitcher Jung Cheol-won and infielder Jeon Min-jae.
The scale grew in the process of discussing the trade. Lotte needed to strengthen its bullpen. There was also a mention of Jung Cheol-won at the site, and the team approached him first with agreement. Doosan said it needed an outfielder. Kim Min-seok was constantly mentioned. In the meantime, Jung Cheol-won, the 2022 season's rookie of the year, and Kim Min-seok, a former first-rounder of the 2023 season, became the main trading cards.
In addition, Choo Jae-hyun was added as Doosan emphasized the need for outfielders, and Jeon Min-jae was added to Lotte to strengthen its infield depth. The 3-2 trade has been completed, including Choi Woo-in, a promising player who still throws a fastball over 150 kilometers with a robust 191-centimeter, 91-kilogram body.
Why did Lotte decide to give up Kim Min-seok, a former member of "Round 1"
It was surprising that Kim Min-seok was the card that Lotte finally gave. He was a native of Hwimungo and was selected as the third among fielders in the first round of the 2023 Rookie Draft. At that time, he competed with Kim Bum-seok for the first and second place among fielders in the draft. Notably, he was even called "Little Lee Jung-hoo" as the player who inherited the left wing of Hwimungo from Park Yong-taek, Park Min-woo and Lee Jung-hoo.
Though Kim was named an infielder, Lotte changed his position to an outfielder by sending him to Geelong Korea, an Australian professional baseball team, before his debut. Since the season's opening, he has completed the entire game without missing a single entry. Despite his poor performance at the end of this season due to rapid deterioration of his physical stamina, he still posted a batting average of 255 (three hits in 400 times at bat), three homers, 39 RBIs and 16 steals in 129 games, with an OPS of .652. He was the eighth player in the KBO history to post 100 hits in his debut season as a high school graduate.
Throughout the seasons, however, Kim's weaknesses have also become noticeable. He displayed many strikeouts and anxiety in defense. He was particularly disappointed in his throwing ability. Ahead of the second season, Kim began his spring camp after sweating hard to make up for his shortcomings. The new coaching staff, including head coach Kim Tae-hyung, tried to ease the burden of throwing by shifting Kim's position from center field to left field. Kim also seemed to be adjusting well. However, he suffered an abdominal muscle injury right before the exhibition game, and his efforts in the off-season and spring camp went up in smoke.
There was no room after Kim Min-seok returned. It was not possible to give him a chance. The professional world was cold, and Hwang Sung-bin took over the main position while Kim Min-seok was away. Hwang Sung-bin became the main player with a "magic" sound.
Lotte has surely achieved a generational change this year. Hwang Sung-bin, Yoon Dong-hee, Ko Seung-min, Na Seung-yeop, and Son Ho-young, whom it brought in through a trade, have become key players. However, Kim had no seat in the team. In the end, Kim has stayed in the second division more than in the first division this year. His record in the first division was only 211 (six hits in 76 times at bat), six RBIs, three steals, and 14 points, OPS.544, in 41 games.
At the Ulsan-KBO Fall League, an educational league that took place after the end of the season, he won the MVP award with a batting average of 333 (nine hits in 27 at-bats) and four RBIs, and even followed him to the Miyazaki Defense Reinforcement Camp in Japan. Lotte also did not give up hope for Kim Min-seok.
However, in the process of matching the trade cards, Lotte boldly gave up the younger player on the first round two years ago in order to gain a must-win status. Kim Min-seok may be disappointed, but that did not mean that he could not sell the player. Assuming that Victor Reyes, who set a new record for the most hits in the KBO, renews his contract, the main lineup in the outfield is firmly established as Hwang Seong-bin (left fielder), Yoon Dong-hee (center fielder) and Reyes (right fielder). In addition, Cho Se-jin, a former first-rounder, has been discharged from the military athletic team in Sangmu in the 2022 season. He had a batting average of 261 (79 hits in 303 times at bat) with eight home runs and 54 RBIs in this year's Futures League, and immediately joined the Miyazaki defense reinforcement camp after being discharged from the military.
The team needed to clean up traffic in the outfield. Kim showed off his performance in the debut season, but he could not afford to give the team a chance right away. Kim did not have a clear advantage compared with other players. "It is true that Kim Min-seok is the No. 1 backup," Kim said during the season. "However, Jang Doo-sung and Kim Dong-hyuk are faster in feet. They also prefer defense or baserunning," Kim said. "It would be ambiguous unless it is used as a special feature." Kim Min-seok needs to show off his presence as a strong point in the bench, but he thinks that his capability is ambiguous.
Why did Lotte want to bring in Jeong Cheol-won from "ERA 6.40"
The player he has received is Jeong Cheol-won, the Rookie of the Year award for the 2022 season. After winning the Rookie of the Year award with an ERA of 3.10 with 4 wins, 3 losses and 3 saves in 58 games in the 2022 season, Jung went downhill a little bit. Although he started the season as the closing pitcher last year, he had a ERA of 3.96 with 7 wins, 6 losses with 13 saves and 11 holds in 67 games, and this year he had a ERA of 6.40 with 2 wins, 1 loss and 6 holds in 36 games.
However, Lotte decided that it needed a fireballer-type bullpen pitcher who throws strong balls. Given manager Kim Tae-hyung's strong belief that pitchers should be able to beat opponents by force, the current bullpen pitcher lineup was regrettable. His basic performance was also not good. He ranked ninth in the league with 5.36 earned run average (ERA) in this year's bullpen session. He had Blon Save the most 27 times in the league.
"During the season, I thought we need a pitcher who can beat us with speed or ball power," Lotte General Manager Park Joon-hyuk said. "Although it is undervalued now, Jung Cheol-won's sealing is high and his arm angle is high, so the release point is good. The feeling that batters will feel is different. I also thought that he was good at using high fastballs and also has strength in the ABS system."
Since Choi Joon-yong and Jeon Mir left early this year due to shoulder and elbow injuries, respectively, they had difficulties. It is still doubtful whether both pitchers will be able to complete the game from next year's opening game. FA pitchers such as Koo Seung-min and Kim Won-joong were retained, and Kim Sang-soo was also present, but he was deeply disappointed in the absolute quality and quantity, but Chung filled it with Chung Cheol-won. 먹튀검증
Manager Kim Tae-hyung was with Chung when he was with Doosan, and he knows how to use it. Also, coach Kim Sang-jin, who is like Chung's benefactor, will meet again at Lotte. If Chung rebounds, Lotte's bullpen will become stronger.
Lotte's move can be interpreted as an intention to display results somehow with manager Kim Tae-hyung. Although the team successfully cracked down on internal free agents, it sought ways to strengthen its capability in the trade at a time when it had no intention of recruiting external free agents. It also showed its determination to endure heavy losses two years ago when the team was serving as a rookie draft ringer. Lotte showed once again that it is serious about "Winnow."