Lotte, which has failed in fall baseball for seven consecutive years, has blossomed into a prospect, but...In the end, the score on the "17 billion" FA trio

Lotte, which has failed in fall baseball for seven consecutive years, has blossomed into a prospect, but...In the end, the score on the "17 billion" FA trio

Blog Article

Lotte Giants, who have never made the postseason stage since 2017, opened their wallet after the end of the 2022 season. Lotte gave an extension contract to Park Se-woong, a native ace, and heated up the stove league by recruiting Han Hyun-hee through a four-year total of 8 billion won with Yoo Kang-nam from the catcher's side, which has been pointed out as a "hole" for many years, and a four-year contract of 5 billion won in the shortstop division and 4 billion won in 3+1 years.먹튀검증

However, Lotte did not produce the desired result. First of all, the effect of recruiting outside free agents was hard to find. Yoo Kang-nam only posted 92 hits, 10 homers, and a batting average of 0.261 OPS of 0.726, while Roh Jin-hyuk was disappointed with 86 hits, four homers, and a batting average of 0.257 OPS of 0.724, in 113 games. And Han Hyun-hee recorded the most losses in 38 games, with 6 wins, 12 losses and a 5.45 ERA with three holds.

In response, Lotte made changes to the other side, including appointing "master" Kim Tae-hyung as its new head coach before the 2023 season. However, there was no rebound from the FA trio. Han Hyun-hee raised her performance by posting a 5.19 ERA with five wins, three losses and eight holds in 57 games, but Yoo Kang-nam, whose biggest advantage along with framing was health, was put on the operating table after 52 games, and Noh Jin-hyuk failed to rebound in 73 games with 30 hits, two home runs and a batting average of 0.219 OPS of 0.604.

While the "FA trio" still failed to meet expectations, the biggest reason Lotte was able to compete for postseason tickets until the end of last year's season was because young prospects such as Yoon Dong-hee, Hwang Sung-bin, Na Seung-yeop and Ko Seung-min blossomed and began to build up "Everidge" little by little.

Lotte saw clear possibilities through the 2024 season, but for now, it has not been able to significantly strengthen its power this winter. The best option was to bring out Kim Won-joong, the "unwavering finish," and Koo Seung-min, the "trustman." The reason is that with the recruitment of the FA trio, the salary cap is in a tight spot. Currently, Lotte is facing a situation that an outside FA cannot dream of. This is likely to continue until the contract with Noh Jin-hyuk, Yoo Kang-nam, and Han Hyun-hee expires in 2021.

Still, he is not disappointed. Lotte has built a better bullpen than last year by recruiting Jeong Cheol-won, a rookie king, in exchange for giving up Kim Min-seok, who was once dubbed a "special promising player" this winter. The most important thing, however, is that the FA trio should revive in the end. If the FA trio fail to pay after all, the same result will likely be repeated in the 2025 season.

First of all, Yoo Kang-nam's rehabilitation period, which was on the operating table in July, was 7 months. If the recovery is not bad, the spring camp, which will begin in late January, is likely to join. Son Sung-bin and Information-geun received many opportunities in the situation where Yoo Kang-nam was excluded, but it was not enough to appease all Lotte's regrets. In the end, it was a season that made me feel that an experienced catcher had to take the center stage. It is necessary to show through the remaining contracts that health was the biggest strength.

Han had a better season than Yoo Kang-nam and Noh Jin-hyuk. Considering the amount of money, however, Han should play a more important role by securing a spot in the starting lineup or joining the must-win group. Korea cannot change positions to select players and long relief whenever a team is needed. Korea should not settle for the current situation.

However, unlike Yoo Kang-nam, who is definitely the main player, and Han Hyun-hee, who is considered the most important player when a team is needed, it is Noh Jin-hyuk who faces the most disastrous situation. Noh played 73 games this year, but only 32 games were the main players. His competitiveness is too weak to be appointed as a center infielder. The defense is not that wide and it is difficult to catch up with young players in speed.

The same goes for his offense. When Lotte recruited Noh, it expected him to hit more than 10 home runs and an OPS of more than 0.800. However, he failed to show off his strength as the NC Dinos did for the past two years. Notably, with Ko Seung-min at second base and Park Seung-wook at shortstop, and Son Ho-young at third base and Na Seung-yeop at first base, there is not much room for Noh to stand. This is why he needs to show more performance in camp and practice-demonstration games to regain his starting position.

Lotte entered a dark period by failing to advance to the post season for seven consecutive years until last year. If the same result is repeated this year, it will lead to the failure of the team's autumn baseball for the longest period. It is no exaggeration to say that Lotte's performance in the 2025 season will depend on the revival of the FA trio.