Park Jin-man is the only one who is likely to renew his contract. Why the list-up? Who? Is there a possibility
Oct 30, 2025
|
He started preparing quickly, promising the best stage in 2026. One after another, he is leaving the final training session.
However, one team is still quiet without much movement except for notifying five players that they cannot renew their contracts.
It is the Samsung Lions who played a great autumn baseball. There is a reason. The appointment of the head coach is still yet.
Samsung manager Park Jin-man's three-year contract has expired. He needs to renew his contract with coach Park Jin-man or appoint a new head coach.
It has not been decided yet. The only team whose coach will lead the closing camp is undecided.
The lower team has been cleared up. The lowest-ranked Kiwoom Heroes took off the tag of acting head coach Seol Jong-jin. The ninth-ranked Doosan Bears appointed Kim Won-hyung as the new head coach.
There is not much change in the top team.
SSG Landers, ranked third in the season, re-signed Lee Sung-yong before the postseason.
There is no place to change anymore. Needless to say, the first and second-ranked teams LG Twins and Hanwha Eagles dominated the 2025 season. LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop, whose contract period expires, is confirmed to announce his contract renewal after the Korean Series.
There is only one Samsung left.
Samsung selected three candidates for the head coach, including head coach Park Jin-man. The list, which reflects the intention of the owner of the CEO Yoo Jeong-geun, will be finally decided by the coach after a group report.
|
There are three main reasons.
First, there is not much justification for the replacement of the head coach.
Coach Park Jin-man made a clear achievement of advancing to the postseason for the second consecutive year.
Last year, he beat the LG Twins in the playoffs in second place of the season with insufficient power to advance to the Korean Series.
This year, there was a crisis due to a string of bullpen injuries. Although there was an evaluation that it was a better performance than last year, it fell to 8th place in August. However, he succeeded in advancing to fall baseball by showing his hindsight at the end of the season and raising the ranking to fourth place.
Samsung was the team that showed the biggest fighting spirit in fall baseball.
He succeeded in advancing to the playoffs by winning a series of wild-card games and semi-playoffs. He tried to advance to the Korean Series for the second consecutive year by threatening Hanwha to the end with two wins and two losses, but he faced exhausted physical limitations by playing 11 autumn baseball games.
Second, there is no clear alternative.
Samsung's goal for next season, which has fought well in autumn baseball for two consecutive years, is to advance to the Korean Series and win the championship.
Manager Park Jin-man's replacement means bringing in a coach who can represent Samsung and win the championship right away. However, it is not easy at this point to bring in a coach who can encompass the traditional team of Samsung and guarantee the championship. In fact, it is known that a big name that can symbolize Samsung is not included in the list.
|
|
Coach Park Jin-man, who took office in 2022 after serving as the head coach of the Futures League, has grown with young players.
I have watched young players who are currently in the first division since they were leaders of the second division. That's why I know the players well one after another. Coach Park, who has emphasized basic skills such as defense as if he were a "best shortstop", has led young players such as Lee Jae-hyun, Kim Young-woong, and Kim Sung-yoon to create strong defense and home run corps' team colors. Kim Young-woong and Lee Jae-hyun, who played the postseason for the second consecutive year, played horizontally in the fall baseball as the mainstay of offense and defense. Next season is a year when the generational change of young Samsung, which head coach Park put his heart and soul into, will be completed.
Director Park Jin-man has also grown together. Sometimes he went through trial and error, but he quickly admitted his mistakes and transformed into a flexible one. In the meantime, strategic flexibility in the big game has been strengthened. He also has an eye for reading big trends, such as waking up the team and awakening the players through short and concise messages at each crisis.
|
Samsung will announce whether to renew the contract with Park Jin-man as soon as possible.
This is because there are a lot of homework that can be organized only when the head coach is decided, such as the final training, the formation of the team, and the coaching staff that must leave soon.
Will coach Park Jin-man try to win the title once again with '2nd system'. For now, it is the most likely and likely to become a reality.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
