Will the Samsung Lions, a professional baseball team that needs to strengthen its pitching, enter the FA market for the second consecutive year following last year.
Samsung was expected to play in the lower ranks ahead of this season, but caused a stir with 78 wins, 64 losses and two draws (winning percentage .549) during the regular season.
Samsung, which directly advanced to the playoffs for the first time in three years, advanced to the Korean Series by beating the LG Twins, but failed to overcome Kia’s high wall to remain the runner-up. While its main players were sidelined due to injury, the team failed to display normal performance and ended up with one win and four losses.
Reflecting on this season, Park Jin-man said, “Unfortunately, we were the runner-up, but all of our players worked really hard for the past year. Many people ranked our team at the bottom, but all of our players were really bad. We’ve been working hard for the past year, just looking forward. Thank you as a coach.”
“I had a hard time in the early days of the season, but I think I got a good result by riding the mood once. Young players got a better result than I expected after riding the mood once,” he added.
Of course, there are some areas that need to be supplemented. “Young players performed well and the old were in harmony,” coach Park Jin-man said, referring to the need to strengthen the gyegutsuin. “As was the case last year, I think we should supplement the gyegutsuin. We need a sense of stability in the gyegutsuin to ensure that the gyegutsuin can perform well in the long-term race. The starting lineup has turned stable, but we will reinforce the gyegutsuin to achieve good results.”
The quickest and most effective way to reinforce one’s capabilities is to recruit external free agents. Ahead of this season, Samsung sought to beef up its commitment by recruiting Kim Jae-yoon and Lim Chang-min. Lim has grabbed 28 holds to rank No. 1 in this category, while Kim Jae-yoon posted 11 saves and 25 saves. Although the team did not perform as well as expected on the fall stage, it is clear that the team made significant contributions to its ranking second in the regular season. 안전놀이터
SSG Landers Noh Kyung-eun, Lotte Giants Kim Won-joong and Koo Seung-min, and KIA Tigers Jang Hyun-sik are the targets that will attract attention in the FA market. The effect of recruiting FA is clear, but bleeding such as compensation amount and compensation player is inevitable.
We cannot expect an immediate increase in power as much as the recruitment of external FA, but from a long-term perspective, there is a way to utilize internal resources.
If Choi Ji-kwang, who underwent surgery on his right elbow, and Kim Yun-soo, who has emerged as a surprise post-season player, grow up one step further based on his experiences in this season, it will greatly contribute to the management of the talent pool. Lee Jae-hee, a right-hander who is serving his mandatory military service at Sangmu, will be discharged from the military next month. Analysts say that his physical structure has significantly improved through systematic training compared to before joining the military. Yang Chang-seop, who was a candidate for the Rookie of the Year award, will also be discharged from the military in January next year.
It remains to be seen whether Samsung, which has dropped its head from the threshold of winning the championship, will resolve the disappointment of this season by reinforcing its pitching.
