I'll listen to it myself SSG finally came to a conclusion, Kim Jaehwan is meeting.

Dec 02, 2025

Kim Jae-hwan.Sports Chosun DB

SSG Landers, who were in big trouble internally until the weekend, finally came to a conclusion. He will meet with Kim Jae-hwan soon.

Kim Jae-hwan, a former franchise star of the Doosan Bears, will soon meet with the SSG Landers. Doosan excluded Kim Jae-hwan from the list of pending players announced by KBO on November 30. Doosan previously announced on November 26 that at the time of the FA contract with Kim Jae-hwan four years ago, it included an opt-out clause that would completely release the right to hold in case of a breakdown with a priority negotiation period four years after the contract period ends.

It is a clause that was not disclosed to the outside world, which has led Doosan to negotiate with Kim Jae-hwan, who did not apply for an FA, to sign a non-FA multi-year contract. Doosan offered Kim Jae-hwan the conditions until the night of the 25th, just before submitting the pending list, but eventually chose to go to the market. According to the regulations, Kim Jae-hwan cannot play for Doosan for one year and can negotiate with the remaining nine clubs as a complete free agent.

Kim Jae-hwan.Sports Chosun DB

Kim Jae-hwan, a large catcher of Incheon High School and the fourth overall pick of Doosan in the second first round in the 2008 rookie draft, played as a starting player in earnest from the 2016 season, opening the era of his heyday as a big shot. He was a catcher at the time of joining the team, but he later turned to an outfielder and focused on saving his long-range power, which is his strength. He hit 37 home runs in 2016, his first full-time season, and swept the KBO League MVP with 44 home runs in 2018 after 35 home runs the following year. However, since then, there has been only one season where more than 30 home runs have been achieved. It was difficult to consistently achieve results due to the large number of ups and downs and minor injuries. Last year, he revived with a batting average of 283, 29 home runs, and 92 RBIs, but this year he slowed down to 241 and 13 home runs.

As Kim Jae-hwan's opt-out selection became known, it was of keen interest to see which team would compete for recruitment. Several clubs have emerged as leading candidates, some of whom informally "We're not interested." expressed his intention.

SSG, which confirmed information a few weeks ago that Kim Jae-hwan could be released, also began internal discussions just before he was excluded from the actual pending list. Currently, there are talks among other clubs that "Isn't the agreement with SSG in advance?" but this is not true. Given the internal decision-making structure and the parent company reporting process, SSG is also difficult to sign contracts with 1-2 people moving secretly. In fact, there were many voices expressing displeasure within the SSG club who heard the rumor.

The second semi-PO match between SSG and Samsung held at SSG Landers Field in Incheon on the 11th. SSG coach Lee Soo-yong is watching the game. Incheon = Reporter Park Jae-man pjm@sportschosun.com /2025.10.11/

However, rumors are rumors, and objective conclusions must also be made. The SSG club held a marathon debate until last weekend. In addition to the opinions of the field, including head coach Lee Soo-yong, we had time to listen to and discuss opinions and thoughts related to recruiting Kim Jae-hwan internally. That golden time was last weekend. Since I can officially sign a contract with Kim Jae-hwan from December 1, I thought it was right to conclude at least 1 day in advance, and went through internal discussions all weekend.

And I finally put it in order. SSG has concluded that it will announce its intention to recruit Kim Jae-hwan, and plans to meet with Kim Jae-hwan to negotiate soon. An SSG official said "We are going to meet soon. I'm going to listen to what kind of thoughts I have in person,' he said on the morning of the 2nd.

Sportschosun DB

SSG is currently extremely thirsty for reinforcing its batters and reinforcing long hitters. There are big prospects such as Ko Myung-joon, Ryu Hyo-seung, and Hyun Won-hoe, but in fact, there is almost no pool of prospects who can expect a long shot except for them. With existing central hitters Choi Jung and Han Yu-som getting older by one year, SSG suffered severe pain due to its strong 'one-two punch' and batting lineups that have not burst throughout this season even though they have the strongest bullpen in the league. In the end, if Kim Jae-hwan succeeds in recruiting, he can raise expectations for long-shot power anyway.

First of all, we can check the degree of consensus between the two sides by talking in earnest. In addition to SSG, there is a story that other clubs are interested behind the scenes. Whether this interest is real or not, it is expected to end as the negotiation table is set up in earnest.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.