[마이데일리 = 김진성 기자] How will KIA deal with this crisis?
KIA holder concerns are back to square one. Park Dong-won left for LG for 4 years and won 6.5 billion. The cost of failing to sign a multi-year non-FA deal is high. It’s scary to think that Kiwoom gave up the shutout Kim Tae-jin, 1 billion won in cash, and the 2023 rookie 2nd round draft nomination rights (Chungam High School catcher Kim Dong-heon).
It gave Kiwoom the right to pick in the second round of the 2024 rookie draft and bring Hyo-ganu Joo. Joo Hyo-sang comes from the 1st nomination and is a resource to be the key catcher of the Kiwoom 1st team if he is not traded. However, it is an unproven catcher.
According to the industry, KIA is not showing much interest in Se-hyuk Park, who remains in the free agent market. The trade with Samsung is a big blood loss. Realistically, KIA has to set up a home room with the Han Seung-taek-Ju Hyo-sang system in the 2023 season.
However, as the situation develops, Kim Min-sik’s trade with SSG on May 9 will inevitably come to mind. At the time, KIA sent Kim Min-sik to SSG and recruited promising infielder Geopo Lim Seok-jin and left-handed pitcher Kim Jeong-bin. It was a transaction that SSG actively sought because of concern for the Lee Jae-won system.
After recruiting Park Dong-won at the end of April, KIA decided that it was okay to use Kim Min-sik as a trading card. Kim Min-sik is actually a year older than Park Dong won, but I thought bringing him up as a backup looking at the future didn’t fit the look. In this way, the KIA played the season with a solid difference between the starter Park Dong-won and the reserve system Han Seung-taek.
With Park Dong-won leaving the team in vain after 7 months, KIA came to a situation where Kim Min-sik could be a waste. Kim Min-sik is not a first-class catcher, but it is true that there is depth the catcher who can be used in the first team immediately after Park Dong-won left has become thinner.
But it’s just an idle thought. KIA should look to the future, burying the Kim Min-sik trade and Park Dong-won’s failure to sign a multi-year free agent contract. In reviewing the negotiations won by Park Dong and taking them as lessons for future FA and non-FA contracts, it is more important to sharpen Plan B.
There is no other way. The shoulders of battery coach Kim Sang-hoon and head coach Chin Gap-yong became heavy. Must foster the second holder Park Dong-won or higher. It may not be possible to produce immediate results, but it is time to look to the future with a long breath. At the Jeju finishing camp, Kim Seon-woo, Shin Beom-soo, and Shin Myeong-seung were trained intensively. He has to come up with a master plan for cultivating catchers and going to camps in Arizona and Okinawa next year.
The importance of the catcher in the KBO league is quite large. The case of Yang Eui-ji proves that the catcher can change the pitcher and even the team. However, there is no law against a team with a weak catcher not winning. Immediately this year, SSG won the combined championship with the system of Lee Jae-won and Kim Min-sik. In the pennant race, Lee Jae-won had a high stake, but Kim Won-hyeong, the coach, was right in increasing Kim Min-sik’s weight in the Korean series.
In the short term, KIA has no choice but to suffer with the help of coaches and pitchers while going with the Han Seung-taek-Ju Hyo-sang system. Among the main pitchers, there is no experienced pitcher other than Yang Hyeon-jong. It is also worth considering selecting foreign pitchers with a large share as experienced veterans. It seems unlikely that KIA will join Sean Nolin and Thomas Panoni next year.
[박동원(위). 김민식(아래). 사진 = LG 트윈스 제공, 마이데일리 사진 DB]
Reporter Kim Jin-seong kkomag@mydaily.co.kr
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