Eom Sang-baek 7.8 billion, An Chi-hong 7.2 billion, Shim Woo-jun 5 billion, and 20 billion in total? If you win, everything will be a successful investment
Jul 16, 2025
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Ahead of last season, Hanwha Eagles ambitiously agreed with veteran infielder An Chi-hong for a large amount of up to 7.2 billion won for 4+2 years and signed an FA contract. After signing a six-year, nine-billion-won contract with Chae Eun-sung a year ago, it was a choice to take 'WinNow' continuity.
And ahead of this season, he has poured out even more formidable contracts. He gave a total of 5 billion won for four years to shortstop Shim Woo-joon, who became an FA after playing for KT Wiz, and invested 7.8 billion won for four years to Eom Sang-baek, who was also a KT starter, clearly expressing his will to win. All three of them could not be free from the talk of 'Overpay' when considering their age and careers, but Hanwha's 'Bulldozer Action' seemed to shine, saying that if they can contribute to their strength anyway, they should make bold investments when they have players.
Chae Eun-sung is playing the captain's role as a central hitter this season and paying for it. Let's leave out Ryu Hyun-jin, who had no choice but to return to Hanwha after living in the U.S. The problem is that the slump of the other three high-value FA players is unusual.
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Um Sang-baek started 15 games in the first half and left only 1-6 with a 6.33 ERA. It is such a serious slump that I wonder if he is the right pitcher who won 13 games last year. The ball is not bad. However, even though he throws well, his control often shakes all of a sudden. He seems to be unable to overcome the psychological burden of receiving a lot of money and showing good performance.
Shim Woo-joon is better than the two. He has a high contribution even in defense. However, he has a batting average of 209. In the last 10 games of the first half, he drove in 40% and only exceeded 20%. It was also painful that he could not play for more than a month due to a fracture in his left knee.
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But on the contrary, it's convenient. Why did I invest that. I was going to win. It's still too early to talk about winning, but anyway, he will be in the second half with a 4.5-game lead over first place and second place in the first half. Hanwha is by far the most likely team to win this year's championship at this point. In other words, he can win. Once they win, it is concluded that Hanwha has made a successful investment regardless of their individual performances.
It can be said to be forced, but even like this, the club and the players must pull their minds together to focus more in the second half. The three of them were so sluggish that they won first place? If you think about how much more scary Hanwha will be if you do better than now in the second half of the year, wouldn't you have hope.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.