Since launching under the name of Heroes, Kiwoom has been a team that has made offseason headlines mainly in ‘power loss’. It is a team that has made a name for itself by sending several special players to the major leagues, but on the other hand, it is a team that always had to worry about how to make up for the power loss. It was also difficult to crack down on the internal FA.
It is common for other teams to go into reinforcement work with parent company support or posting proceeds, but Kiwoom without a parent company did not. There were many cases in which players who left as free agents were compensated in money, not as players. For most of the season, he was a ‘marine person’. Nevertheless, based on his unique training system and wise season strategy, Kiwoom was evaluated as showing a new path to the KBO by staying in the middle and upper ranks all the time.
However, there was a limit to the desperate measures, which led to the limit that Kiwoom could not step on the top even after advancing to the Korean series. Such Kiwoom took quite a different course this offseason. We recruited two free agent players and received them as compensation for free agent Han Hyun-hee, who transferred to Lotte. Of course, it’s not a large-scale reinforcement, but when the water comes in, you can feel the will to row.
As soon as the free agent market opened, Kiwoom signed a contract with veteran sidearm Won Jong-hyun for 4 years and 2.5 billion won, followed by a 4-year, 2 billion won contract with outfielder Lee Hyung-jong, who obtained the qualification as a free agent for the Futures. Considering the history of the team, which had little to do with recruiting outside free agents, it is worth saying that it is quite meaningful apart from the amount.
In fact, Won Jong-hyun and Lee Hyeong-jong cannot all be considered S-class, but they were still in a situation where they competed with other teams with their great resources. However, Kiwoom boldly approached by increasing the contract period and guarantee amount, and became the final winner in the scramble and reinforced its strength. In the baseball world, there are many evaluations that “Kiwoom, who was not always interested in the FA market, made the most of the budget.”
Although they are doing well on a difficult road to survive without a parent company, as a result, they have yet to win a Korean series or regular season. This also affects the team brand value. In addition, this year, as Kiwoom, he must be in a hurry. This is because Lee Jung-hoo (25), the team’s signature and the best hitter in the KBO league, is highly likely to leave Kiwoom at the end of this season. Lee Jung-hoo made his major league challenge official after the season. 안전놀이터
Kiwoom managed to fill in the gaps of Kang Jung-ho, Park Byeong-ho, and Kim Ha-sung, but the realistic point of view is that if Lee Jung-hoo is left out, there is a high possibility of struggling on the leaderboard for the time being. Conversely, 2023, when Lee Jung-hoo’s last season and key players such as Ahn Woo-jin, Kim Hye-seong, and Lee Ji-young can maintain their skills, may be Kiwoom’s last championship challenge for the time being. If you miss this opportunity, no one knows how long you will have to wait.
Kiwoom is a team that does not seem to have a deep player base on the outside, but when you bump into it, you can see its potential. This was demonstrated very well in the postseason last year. The starting lineup has basic strength, and in the bullpen, a team that makes a surprise appearance every year is Kiwoom. Although the offensive production of the other lines is not even, there are no major deviation factors compared to last year in the aspect of the other line that sees the game when it is necessary to score points. What would the result be if Kiwoom, who maintained the ranking despite power loss, had an ambitious offseason? It is worth saying that it is a point of observation for watching the 2023 KBO League.