Is there a possibility that KIA, Kim Jae-hwan will panic buy Choi Hyung-woo…All 124th place is broken up, how to reinforce it
Dec 02, 2025
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The KIA Tigers have not taken an active attitude in this year's stove league. It is difficult to crack down on internal FA. Park Chan-ho, the largest shortstop, transferred to the Doosan Bears (8 billion won for four years), and catcher Han Seung-taek signed with KT Wiz (1 billion won for four years). Even Choi Hyung-woo, who has been an irreplaceable hitter for the past nine years, is set to transfer to the Samsung Lions.
KIA's only achievement is a three-year, 1.2 billion won contract with left-handed bullpen Lee Joon-young. Pitchers Yang Hyun-jong and Cho Sang-woo are still in the market.
The background of KIA's integrated victory last year was the firepower of the powerful batters. Four people, including Kim Do-young (38 home runs), Socrates Brito (26 home runs), Choi Hyung-woo (26 home runs) and Na Sung-bum (21 home runs), hit double-digit home runs, while Kim Do-young and Choi Hyung-woo hit 109 RBIs side by side. Kim Sun-bin (0.329) and Park Chan-ho (0.307) showed off their outstanding hit productivity and added texture to the lineup.
This year, the batters' firepower fell as the main hitters, including Kim Do-young, Kim Sun-bin and Na Sung-bum, groaned due to injuries. Park Chan-ho (148 hits), Choi Hyung-woo (144 hits), and Patrick Wisdom (100 hits) ranked first, second, and fourth in the team, and only four hitters had more than 100 hits, including Oh Sun-woo (116 hits), who has grown rapidly this year. Last year, it was down to half of the eight.
Park Chan-ho, Choi Hyung-woo and Wisdom will not be with KIA next year. KIA expressed its intention to give up the contract early in order to find a foreign hitter with a little more clutch ability than Wisdom.
Kim Do-young, Kim Sun-bin and Na Sung-beom should not moan about injuries and sluggishness again next year as they did this year, but anyway, based on this year's performance, only Oh Sun-woo has more than 100 hits left in the team.
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Regarding recruiting outside hitters, KIA has said that `Choi Hyung-woo's crackdown is the top priority.' As the final negotiations with Choi Hyung-woo have been broken, it is time to consider recruiting outside.
There is a possibility that KIA Kim Jae-hwan will panic buy. There was no reason for KIA to covet Choi Hyung-woo with him left, but with Choi Hyung-woo out, there is room for Kim Jae-hwan to be considered as a card to strengthen his slugging power. It is a big gun that boasts 276 home runs in the KBO, but there is a concern about aging curves.Kim Jae-hwan is currently a released player without compensation, so the contract burden is less.
However, Kim Jae-hwan is known to have a strong will to get out of Jamsil, a pitcher-friendly home stadium. The industry predicts that it will first consider negotiating with SSG Landers, a representative batter-friendly stadium in KBO.
Park Chan-ho and Wisdom's departure was an expected variable, but Choi Hyung-woo's departure is close to an uncalculated variable. If KIA's stove league strategy is not revised significantly here, chances are high that it will face the next season in a negative state.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
