KIA Tigers’ ‘finding the main catcher’ 안전놀이터ended up in a catastrophic failure.
KIA traded Kiwoom Heroes catcher Park Dong-won at the end of April last year. After the 2022 season, he brought Park Dong-won, who is about to qualify for free agency, in anticipation of a multi-year contract.
However, Park Dong-won, who came to the FA market, signed a contract with LG for 4 years and 6.5 billion won on November 21 last year.
And the incident happened on the morning of the 29th. KIA general manager Jang Jeong-seok was dismissed from the general manager position. This is why he demanded money and valuables during the FA negotiations with Park Dong-won.
The KIA lost the main catcher they thought they would hold on to for a long time in less than a year, and the general manager in charge of team management also became vacant.
On the other hand, Kiwoom benefits from the trade of Park Dong-won. By sending him to KIA, Kiwoom obtained infielder Kim Tae-jin and the right to pick in the second round of the 2023 rookie draft. The person selected for this nomination is rookie catcher Kim Dong-heon.
Unlike KIA, which starts the new season without being able to fill Park Dong-won’s void, Kiwoom, Kim Tae-jin, who showed an altoran-like performance in last year’s postseason, still shows a sense of hitting (2023 demonstration game batting average 0.357). Kim Tae-jin is expected to occupy a spot in the infield this season as well.
Rookie catcher Kim Dong-heon is quickly growing into Kiwoom’s future main catcher. Regarding Kim Dong-heon, who is showing talent even in hitting with a batting average of 0.263 in the exhibition game, Kiwoom coach Hong Won-ki smiled heartily and said, “I like the talented and energetic appearance of a rookie. He showed a sense of stability compared to his young age.” He added, “He has a talent for hitting. The pitcher hyungs said he was pretty,” he added.
Through the trade, the expressions of the two clubs that drew a ‘win-win’ have changed greatly. With the 2023 season just around the corner, attention is focused on how KIA will harvest the team and play the season.