Why? Shocking 1R franchise star trade, KIA's preliminary FA priority has been set
Jul 29, 2025
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KIA made a 3-3 trade with the NC Dinos on the 28th. KIA gave up outfielder Lee Woo-sung and infielder Hong Jong-pyo along with Choi Won-jun and received pitchers Kim Si-hoon, Han Jae-seung and infielder Chung Hyeon-chang from NC.
The trade was made by KIA manager Lee Bum-ho and NC manager Lee Ho-joon. KIA has recently lost six consecutive games as its bullpen completely collapsed in the second half of the year. In a situation where reinforcement of the bullpen is urgent, the outfield team, which is relatively full of players, has been sorted out. Still, he had to endure bleeding to get a decent bullpen, and included Choi Won-joon in the trade.
For Choi Won-joon, it is bound to be a big shock. After graduating from Seoul High School, he wore a KIA uniform as the third-ranked player in the second round of the 2016 Rookie Draft, and has been a franchise star for 10 years until this year. He had a batting average of 0.280 (719 hits in 2,566 at-bats), 29 home runs, and 258 RBIs in 822 KBO games.
Choi Won-joon contributed to KIA's overall victory last year by playing 136 games, batting average of 0.292 (128 hits in 438 at-bats), nine homers and 56 RBIs. Of course, KIA intended to tie Choi Won-joon, who is a preliminary FA this year. This is why the annual salary, which was 220 million won last year, was raised to 400 million won this year. It considered the variables that Kia missed due to the fierce competition for recruitment with the batting team, but it was difficult to imagine KIA letting go first until winter.
Contrary to expectations, Choi Won-joon was pushed back from KIA's priority to crack down on internal FA as he played this season. Perhaps because he was ahead of himself, the offense and defense were shaken at the same time. He only had a batting average of 0.224 (50 hits in 223 times at bat) in 70 games in the first half. Coach Lee Bum-ho tried to use Choi Won-joon somehow, but in the end, he had no choice but to notify him of his second leg in May.
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However, the KIA outfield was reorganized. While Choi Won-joon was away, Kim Ho-ryeong took the main center fielder, and Oh Sun-woo, who is capable of both first baseman and corner outfielder, became the center hitter of the team. Ko Jong-wook and Kim Seok-hwan also performed well. Na Sung-bum, who had been out due to injury since the second half of the year, returned. Choi Won-joon was in the first-team entry in the second half, but only had four at-bats in six games. Both the club and the player were in a situation of loss.
Soon, third baseman Kim Do-young will also return from hamstring rehabilitation. Now, first baseman Oh Sun-woo and third baseman Patrick Wisdom are used, but when the main third baseman Kim Do-young returns, Wisdom will go back to first base and Oh Sun-woo will have to fall into the outfield. Then there is no place for Choi Won-jun.
In the end, the club made a choice to make way for Choi Won-joon. It wasn't an easy decision, but it needed to be cool.
KIA has six preliminary FA except Choi Won-joon. Shortstop Park Chan-ho, left-hander ace Yang Hyun-jong, No. 4 hitter Choi Hyung-woo, Pil Seung-jo Cho Sang-woo, left-hander bullpen Lee Joon-young and catcher Han Seung-taek are scheduled to appear on the market.
Park Chan-ho, Yang Hyun-jong and Choi Hyung-woo are classified as forces that must be caught unconditionally. In particular, it is beneficial to leave Cho Sang-woo and Lee Joon-young on the team first, as the bullpen is currently lacking one person. As KIA's outfield players are relatively thick, Choi Won-joon has been pushed out of the priority list. The collapse of the bullpen has led to the club starting to clean up its internal FA a little early.
Choi Won-joon may be heartbroken because he changed his uniform overnight after being treated as a franchise star, but the player is worth playing on the ground anyway. NC is the team that took Choi Won-joon to use right away. This year, NC has 52 games left. During this period, Choi Won-joon wrote a reversal drama, which could reverse the bad evaluation this year.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
