Trade fire makes prospective FA nervous. Cho Sang-woo, Son Ah-seop, I'm still nervous

Jul 29, 2025

Trade fire makes prospective FA nervous. Cho Sang-woo, Son Ah-seop, I'm still nervous
Sportschosun DB



There's a lot of fire for the prospective FA?

The shock wave of the 3 to 3 trade between the KIA Tigers and the NC Dinos has not decreased even after a day. The two teams made a 3-3 trade on the 28th, exchanging Choi Won-joon, Lee Woo-sung, Hong Jong-pyo and Kim Si-hoon, Han Jae-seung, and Jung Hyun-chang.

Attention is focusing on KIA's choice right now. He said he was sluggish this year, but he traded Choi Won-joon, the main player of last year's integrated championship and national outfielder. It's called a reserve FA, but it's an unconventional card. Lee Woo-sung is also a batter who has emerged as the main player in the past two seasons.




In the end, the shock of six consecutive losses in the second half due to the severe slump of Jung Hae-young and Cho Sang-woo seems to have led to a sudden trade. It is all explained that two players, Kim Si-hoon and Han Jae-seung, were brought in. NC had no reason to refuse this trade because it could bring Choi Won-joon and Lee Woo-sung, who could play in the first team unconditionally.

Trade fire makes prospective FA nervous. Cho Sang-woo, Son Ah-seop, I'm still nervous
A game between Hanwha and KIA at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 10th. KIA Choi Won-joon, who missed leadoff hitter Shim Woo-joon's fly ball in the eighth inning. Daejeon = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2025.07.10/
Both teams are expected to make significant changes from the main lineup. NC registered Choi Won-joon and Lee Woo-sung in the first team immediately on the 28th. NC's center field position is slightly lacking compared to the corner outfield. Also, the first base is empty due to Davison's injury. Lee Woo-sung is an outfielder, but he can also play first base.

As mentioned above, KIA is also on the verge of collapse, and it is strange not to put in a player brought in in a hurry. The bullpen is expected to be reorganized.




The game is important right now, but it should be noted that the two teams' FA strategies themselves are likely to be shaken in the future. Representative players are KIA Cho Sang-woo and NC Son Ah-seop.

Cho Sang-woo made ambitious choices ahead of this season, including KIA investing 1 billion won in cash and 1 billion won in the first and fourth rounds of rookie drafts for the sake of the "Kingdom Construction". He has four wins, six losses and 24 holds with a 4.81 ERA in 50 games, but he is not the overwhelming figure he expected. He lost his ball power in his prime.

Trade fire makes prospective FA nervous. Cho Sang-woo, Son Ah-seop, I'm still nervous
A game between the NC Dinos and the Hanwha Eagles at Munsu Baseball Stadium in Ulsan on the 20th. NC Han Jae-seung is pitching hard. Ulsan=Park Jae-man Reporter pjm@sportschosun.com/2025.05.20/
Cho Sang-woo is a prospective FA. From Cho Sang-woo's point of view, he must have dreamed of Jang Hyun-sik last year. The FA 5.2 billion won full guarantee hit the jackpot on the report card of excellent performance and victory. However, with the performance questionable, it may be difficult to raise the ransom because two bullpen agents who will threaten him joined at once.




The same goes for Son Ah-seop. Although his injuries are increasing as a veteran, he is the best contact heater who changed the history of the KBO League. You can still hit more than 100 hits in a season. Son Ah-seop hit two FA bonanza of 9.8 billion won and 6.4 billion won and will qualify for the third FA after this season. He must have been looking for the last big contract. However, Choi Won-joon, the same outfield position and the same reserve FA, came. FA increases its ransom only when the original fastball team catches fire, but if NC puts priority on Choi Won-joon, the value of Son Ah-seop's FA will inevitably fall. As he is looking at the age of 40 in Korean age, it remains to be seen whether there will be a scramble in the market, although he is in a position without compensation.

Relatively, Kia shortstop Park Chan-ho is said to be a favorable factor. Park Chan-ho is also a preliminary FA, and if there are many FA in one team, it is burdensome for the original fastball team to invest, but Choi Won-joon went out and he had room to focus his investment on Park Chan-ho.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.