Hanwha, which led the stove league, strengthened its power 'A+'
Hanwha, which led the stove league, strengthened its power 'A+'
Blog Article
The Stove League in the professional baseball league is on fire. It was a series of battles to take away and take away. It heralds even more thrilling competition for ranking in 2025. KIA, Samsung, and LG, which advanced to the third round in 2024, are said to have successfully strengthened their power to maintain their top ranks in the new year. However, the team that aggressively led the Stove League was the Hanwha Eagles.
LG and KIA are bullpens, and Samsung reinforces starters
Hanwha, which was in last place for three consecutive years between 2020 and 2022, has risen to ninth place in 2023, and eighth place in 2024. As the team moves to its new baseball stadium, Baseball Dream Park, in 2025, the team is dreaming of a bigger leap forward. Hanwha recruited pitcher Um Sang-baek (four-year 7.8 billion won) and infielder Shim Woo-joon (four-year 5 billion won) from KT Wiz to strengthen its starting lineup and shortstop position. The team had to yield pitcher Han Seung-joo and outfielder Jang Jin-hyuk as compensation players, but the team said it made up for the shortcomings. Over the past three years, Hanwha has poured more than 50 billion won into the stove league to catch internal and external FA players. Already, the baseball community says that the "Hwanese team is the favorite for next year's championship."
The LG Twins, who were "defending champions" but failed to advance to the Korean Series in 2024, also moved quickly after the opening of the FA market. They signed a four-year contract with bullpen pitcher Jang Hyun-sik, who contributed to the KIA Tigers' 12th Korean Series championship. It is difficult to make a big hit of more than 5 billion won as a bullpen pitcher, but in the case of Jang Hyun-sik, the total amount gradually rose as KIA, LG, and the Samsung Lions took their eyes on it. LG's Yoo Young-chan, who played the closing part of this season, was put on the operating table due to a fatigue fracture after the Premier 12. As rehabilitation is not expected to end until the opening in 2025, LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop has selected Jang Hyun-sik as a new closing player. KIA chose Kang Hyo-jong as a reward player for Jang. Kang Hyo-jong is about to join the military, but the leaders of KIA greatly evaluated his future growth potential.
LG's shopping spree for bullpen pitchers did not stop at just Jang Hyun-sik. It has excluded Kim Kang-ryul (3+1 billion won) from the Doosan Bears, the "next door." LG ranked sixth overall with a 5.21 ERA in the bullpen in the 2024 season. Considering that it was the first in 29 years to win the title (3.43 ERA) in the 2023 season, it is clear that the team urgently needed to strengthen the bullpen during the upcoming Stove League season.
To make up for the absence of Jang Hyun-sik, who was a must-winner, Kia has recently made a surprise trade. It brought in Cho Sang-woo, who was crowned as the "relief king" in 2020, through a trade. Kia has given the first and fourth rounds of the 2026 rookie draft to the Kiwoom Heroes and 1 billion won (approx. As Cho will become a free agent after the end of next season, he may become a "short-term player" as was the case with Park Dong-won (current LG Twins). However, it seems that Cho always needed to rebuild the Tigers' dynasty. KIA manager Lee Bum-ho also stressed in various interviews that five to six must-win teams should be formed before the opening of the season. Kia has secured Lim Ki-young, an internal free agent, for three years and 1.5 billion won (approx.
Samsung, which dramatically elevated its ranking from eighth to second in the previous year, has beefed up its starting lineup by bringing in Choi Won-tae (a four-year total of 7 billion won) from LG. Samsung, which lacked starting lineup due to injury of key players in the Korean Series against KIA. Samsung has made all-out efforts to expand its bullpen in the FA market in 2023. It had the lowest ERA in the bullpen (5.16). Since Samsung had 38 come-from-behind losses due to loose back doors, it signed contracts with Kim Jae-yoon and Lim Chang-min in the Stove League. Samsung had an ERA in the bullpen for the 2024 season (4.97), following Doosan (4.54). Samsung had sought to strengthen its bullpen this year, but LG was faster. As Samsung brought in Choi, it yielded Choi Chae-heung to LG as a reward player. As for LG, it was passive in catching Choi, who showed disappointment in the post season.
Minimize shock waves from KT's main player...Doosan and Kium inevitably weaken their power
KT, which had achieved the upset for the first time (the fifth-ranked team beats the fourth-ranked team) in this year's wild card game, missed two internal FA, but minimized the shock wave. The hole Shim Woo-joon escaped from was filled with Heo Kyung-min (4 billion won in four years), who declared as an FA at Doosan. Although there is a gap in starting rotation between Shim Sang-baek and Cho returned after elbow ligament joint surgery in May 2023, he can return to starting in 2025. Cho played only mid-level pitching in 2024 as a manager. In addition, Oh Won-seok, a left-hander who gave up Kim Min, who was a must-winner, and acquired him in a trade from SSG Landers, is included. In addition, he caught proven foreign pitcher Enmanuel de Heissus who was released from Kiwoom. Heissus was the second-ranked player (20 pitches) in quality start in 2024 (with more than six innings pitched with three earned runs or fewer), and second-ranked in strikeouts (178 pitches). With William Cuevas and Ko Young-pyo added to the lineup, the starting lineup is not that inferior. However, it will take ages for infielders such as Kim Sang-soo, Hwang Jae-gyun, and Heo Kyung-min. The average age of the three in 2025 will be 36.
Doosan, which was ranked fourth in the regular season league in 2024, is inevitably weakened as Heo Kyung-min and Kim Kang-ryul left the team. Like KT, the fact that fielders are old in general is another problem. However, recruiting Jake Cave, an active major leaguer, is a glimmer of light. SSG ranked sixth with Choi Jung (11 billion won for four years) and Noh Kyung-eun (2.5 billion won for two plus one year total), and the bullpen (Kim Min) has been strengthened through the trade. Lotte Giants, ranked seventh, succeeded in cracking down on internal FA (Kim Won-joong and Koo Seung-min). In addition, through a trade with Doosan, they gave up Kim Min-seok, a "sajik idol," and recruited Jeong Cheol-won, a former rookie of the year in 2022. It was to strengthen the bullpen, but it is a bad news that interim pitcher Kim Do-kyu cannot play in 70 games next season due to drunk driving. 스포츠토토
The NC Dinos had Matt Davidson, the No. 1 hitter with 46 homers, but failed to renew his contract with Kyle Hart, the ace who was the first in strikeouts (182), second in ERA (2.69), and third in multiple wins (13 wins). In the case of Kiwoom that publicly announced its rebuilding, the team released both Heysus and Furado, who were the starting pitchers.