In fact, I had no idea at the time. It was very quiet, and there seemed nothing special. But it was not.
As the season just ended, the best winner of the last stove league was the KIA Tigers. The Korean Series victory proved that KIA was the team that had a good and substantial winter.
Last winter, Kia did not recruit outside free agents. The Stove League focused on foreign pitchers and internal free agents. Naturally, they were out of the public eye. Rather, attention was focused on the Hanwha Eagles, who led active external recruitment such as An Chi-hong and Ryu Hyun-jin.
However, Kia has created a powerful force through thorough internal crackdown and internal recruitment. For now, the process of catching the rabbit was not so smooth. Notably, it was Kim Sun-bin. There was a fierce debate among fans about the pros and cons of Kim Sun-bin. He must have done so because he was disappointed in the second base defense, and although he still admits his batting ability to hit .300, his slugging ability has almost disappeared.
However, he was the captain of the Tigers last season, and as a franchise star, he could not afford to treat Kim carelessly. In the meantime, friction between Kim and the club was also noticeable. However, Kia signed a three-year contract with Kim for a total of 3 billion won, including a down payment of 600 million won, an annual salary of 1.8 billion won, and an option of 600 million won, on Jan. 4, the end of the year.
Kim’s performance this season has been remarkable. The number of home runs he didn’t have last season has increased to nine. His batting average was still exquisite at 0.329. His RBIs, home runs, and OPS all rebounded from last year. In particular, Kim Sun-bin was named MVP in the Korean Series, going 10 for 17 with a two-base hit of 0.588.
In addition, he made a remarkable contribution to his team’s victory by continuously playing up to 10 pitches against Won Tae-in in the important Game 4. We still need to see two more years of contract, but the first year’s contract is a huge success. 메이저놀이터
Choi Hyung-woo is more successful than Kim Sun-bin. It is the best-ever in terms of cost-effectiveness.
For the first time in four years since 2020, Choi has hit 20 home runs and 100 RBIs. Until mid-season, he was aiming for the top RBI by ranking first in RBIs. He still showed his unique clutch ability. I could hardly believe I was a batter over 40 years old.
In Game 3, Choi Hyung-woo hit the only timely hit to Reyes, who was scoreless, and in Game 5, he did well with a batting average of 0.333, setting a new Korean Series record for the oldest home run.
Choi signed a multi-year contract as the oldest non-free agent in January last year. The deal was worth up to 2.2 billion won (2.3 million U.S. dollars) including “one plus one,” an annual salary of 2 billion won (2 million dollars) and an option of 200 million won (2 million dollars). Choi’s multi-year contract was worth just one year this year.
However, another big hit came out. KIA signed a multi-year contract with catcher Kim Tae-gun on Oct. 16 last year for up to 2.5 billion won (approx. 2 billion won) in annual salary and 500 million won (approx.
Kim Tae-gun, who is qualifying as a free agent (FA) for the second time since his debut, was caught in advance to prepare for a gap in his home turf.
Controversy over overpay has been intense among fans. But this contract turned out to be a huge hit. In particular, it is more valuable than previous contracts in that it transformed the team’s weaknesses into strengths.
In fact, expectations for Kim were closer to playing the role of a short-term firefighter to extinguish an urgent fire. However, this was Kia’s underestimation of Kim’s value.
Kim went 6 for 17 with one homer and seven RBIs in this 2024 Korean Series. In particular, the grand slam in Game 4 of the series was Kim’s fifth in his career, and the final hit in Game 5 was also an infield hit.
Kim Tae-bin was the best hitter in the Korean Series. Kim had a high batting average, but Kim’s role as a troubleshooter was overwhelming. This was the reason why Kim and Kim competed fiercely for MVP, with only one vote difference.
On top of this, Kim Tae-gun wore a mask in all five games of the Korean Series, and led the team by displaying easy defense that did not show off. It was a moment of change for Kia, which had been agonizing over the catcher issue.
He was not the only one. Kia has acquired a new catcher named Han Jun-su due to Kim’s umbrella effect. The only team among the 10 teams to have two catchers participating in more than 100 games this season. It was possible because Kim kept the home ground confidently.
KIA quickly caught Kim not only to fill the immediate void but also to raise up-and-coming catcher. However, the fact that Han Jun-su has grown into a starting lineup is equivalent to that Kim Tae-gun paid enough money. As the team took the lead in winning the Korean Series as a starting catcher, Kia had nothing more to ask for.
His mercenary skills were also impressive compared to last year. James Nail ranked No. 1 in ERA in the league. He also started in Game 1 and Game 4 of the Korean Series, serving as the team’s ace. With just one nail, Kia’s mercenary skills are neither successful nor successful.
Socrates, a batter and mercenary, had a career high this season, as fans strongly argued for or against renewing his contract. He had 26 home runs and 97 RBIs.
Walcrow also withdrew due to injury, but it wasn’t a bad choice. Lauer, a substitute mercenary, didn’t get a castle, but he lasted five innings in Game 3 of the Korean Series anyway.
Above all, the fact that Aldred, Lauer, and Stout were airlifted to the site as soon as there was an injury gap between Crow and Nail is also receiving good reviews.
Of course, this whole process is not over yet. Because the contract lasts until next year or the year after.
Kia, however, combined all these processes to achieve its first combined win in seven years. It thus achieved the so-called quantum jump from sixth place last year. And in the process, last winter’s mercenary and internal FA contracts, which prepared for the 2024 season, have proved to be a huge success so far.
There was no external recruitment to attract fans’ attention, but that’s why some say, “The team that spent last winter most fully is KIA.”
