Was the stigma of selling players to survive and ruin the league unfair? Why did Kiwoom suddenly burst a crazy contract worth 12 billion won

Aug 04, 2025

Was the stigma of selling players to survive and ruin the league unfair? Why did Kiwoom suddenly burst a crazy contract worth 12 billion won
Photo provided by Kium Heroes



Did he want to get rid of his stigma by selling players.

Kiwoom Heroes hit a big accident. A surprise deal that no one expected. It signed a six-year non-FA multi-year contract with captain Song Sung-moon with a total of 12 billion won.

Kiwoom officially announced this fact on the 4th. After the Lotte Giants match on the 3rd, Song Sung-moon's family was invited to sign a grand contract ceremony at a hotel near Gocheok Sky Dome.




It is the sixth non-FA multi-year contract of more than 10 billion won in total. What is important is that it is a full guarantee of 12 billion won. This means that the club believes in Song Sung-moon's skill and responsibility. Song Sung-moon, who was not guaranteed to be the main player until just two years ago, became a baseball tycoon at one point.

In fact, few people would think Kiwoom would make such a huge contract. Although he was good at raising players and making them big players, he couldn't even dream of recruiting large FA or signing multi-year contracts due to the limitations of the system in which he had to run the club on his own. It is safe to say that Park Byung-ho, who was the team's flagship, signed another large FA-level contract when he returned from the U.S. Major League Baseball. Just before this season, Kiwoom was struggling to maintain its power by attracting release players when other teams were having a money feast.

In fact, Song Sung-moon was considered a player in the industry to leave soon. Song Sung-moon's skills have been in full swing since last year, and he was about to become the first FA in his life at the end of next season. If Kiwoom judged that it was an `uncontrollable' Song Sung-moon, he would have put it on the market before becoming an FA. That's because you can get players, designation rights, or money. It is in the same vein that he traded prospective FA Cho Sang-woo ahead of this season.




Was the stigma of selling players to survive and ruin the league unfair? Why did Kiwoom suddenly burst a crazy contract worth 12 billion won
KIA-Kium match held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 26th. Song Sung-moon is delighted after hitting an RBI double with two outs in the bottom of the third inning. Gocheok = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.6.26/
Therefore, Kiwoom's capture of Song Sung-moon and its spending of 12 billion won are bound to be a huge surprise. Then, why did Kiwoom suddenly do something that he didn't do.

Several reasons seem to have worked in combination. Once we focus on Song Seong-moon, in fact, the 12 billion won contract may not be that drastic. The contract period was six years, and it was more popular in the market than expected. Many teams actually drooled because they can cover second and third bases, and they can play anywhere in the batting order of 1st to 3rd, are fast to their feet, and just entered their prime. Isn't it over to say that Major League Baseball is also interested. There were also multiple clubs that actively pursued the trade. In order to protect a player who knows the market situation, he had no choice but to impose unconventional conditions.

Was the stigma of selling players to survive and ruin the league unfair? Why did Kiwoom suddenly burst a crazy contract worth 12 billion won
Song Sung-moon, who is happy to hit in the bottom of the second inning in the 2025 KBO All-Star Game held at Hanwha Life Ball Park in Daejeon on the 12th. Daejeon = Reporter's book@sportschosun.com/2025.07.12/
However, catching one Song Sung-moon is not a situation where you can suddenly escape from the last place. I couldn't catch it because I tried too hard, and I can't help but wonder why I suddenly abandoned the existing mindset that I can raise other players. First of all, it is highly likely that he prepared for this incident with a card of determination that will blow away the image of `selling players to survive' at once. As mentioned above, if baseball is good, not only Song Sung-moon but also Lee Ju-hyung, the team's atmosphere cannot go back properly because it will be embroiled in trade rumors. In addition, Kim Ha-sung (Tampa Bay), Lee Jung-hoo (San Francisco), and Kim Hye-sung (LA Dodgers) were sent to the U.S. Major League and received enormous compensation, but it could calm the criticism that they are questioned about where they are spending the money and whether they have the will to run the club. It must have been a burden for Kiwoom to be pointed out as the reason for introducing the lower limit of the salary cap, which has recently been discussed.




Was the stigma of selling players to survive and ruin the league unfair? Why did Kiwoom suddenly burst a crazy contract worth 12 billion won
The second game of the three consecutive weekdays between Kiwoom and Lotte will be held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 23rd. Before the game, Kiwoom Wells is receiving souvenirs from captain Song Sung-moon. Gocheok = Reporter Song Jeong-heon @sportschosun.com/2025.07.23/
Finally, Kiwoom received tremendous criticism after the first half of the year, saying, "Do you make a team that can't fight and put responsibility on the field?" by throwing out head coach Hong Won-ki and general manager Ko Hyung-wook. President Wi Jae-min, who led the work, and Huh Seung-pil, who became a new general manager, were also criticized. Recently, even after releasing (Samsung) Heysus (KT) to other teams saying it was a waste of money, it was revealed that he could have saved more money than he spent on all kinds of foreign player replacements, and he had to be criticized for being "incompetent".

Song Sung-moon's shock 12 billion won contract card was the card to put all these bad news to rest at once. Song Sung-moon must have signed the autograph in a good mood, recalling the words 'Life is Timing'.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.