Samsung without Choi Hyung-woo, never won...The Return of the 4th Dynasties, shall we solve it for 12 years
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Samsung announced on the 3rd that it signed a two-year contract with Choi Hyung-woo for a total of 2.6 billion won. Kia should pay 1.5 billion won in compensation. Next year, he invested 4.1 billion won in a 43-year-old veteran. Samsung fans cheered, and many KIA Tigers fans who lost Choi Hyung-woo, the undisputed No. 4 hitter for the past nine years, were angry.
There is only one reason why Samsung brought Choi Hyung-woo. It's a victory. Samsung has never lifted the trophy until this year since Choi Hyung-woo agreed to a four-year, 10 billion won FA contract with KIA in the winter of 2016. Coincidentally, a long dark period has come for Samsung since Choi Hyung-woo's departure.
In the meantime, Choi Hyung-woo became the winning contractor at KIA. In the nine years he left Samsung, he lifted the trophy twice in 2017 and 2024.
KIA general manager Shim Jae-hak and manager Lee Bum-ho said "The player who won the championship twice" when they left Choi Hyung-woo.
Samsung is evaluated as a team that has recently emerged from the dark age and is ready to return to the top again. He has a solid history by raising young fielders such as Kim Young-woong, Lee Jae-hyun, Kim Ji-chan, and Kim Sung-yoon well.
This year was the league's best home run corps. He ranked first overwhelmingly with 161 team home runs. Foreign batter Lewin Diaz had the largest stake by achieving 50 home runs, renewing his contract for $1.6 million (about 2.3 billion won) and joining next year.
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Choi Hyung-woo still reigns as the best hitter in the league even though he is well over the moon. He hit .307 (144 hits in 469 at-bats) with 24 home runs, 86 RBIs and an OPS of .928 in 133 games this season. This year's designated batter, Golden Glove, has been virtually confirmed. The Korean team plans to add a trophy right after moving to Samsung.
If Choi Hyung-woo maintains his performance this year, Park Byung-ho's gap will be filled. If Kang Min-ho succeeds in renewing his contract with Samsung, he will maintain enough power to challenge for the championship.
Samsung finished second in the Korean Series last year, and this year, it finished the regular season in fourth place and went from the wild card final to the playoffs, but failed to make the Korean Series stage in the end. It was a situation where it was a shame to end it for two consecutive years. Expectations are high whether Choi Hyung-woo will be able to become the peak of the fire dragon. If he wins next year right away, he will be relieved for the first time in 12 years since 2014.
Choi Hyung-woo said, "(The goal) is for me to join and for Samsung to win the championship. It's been so long since I came here, and I'm also nervous. I have a strange feeling, but it would be fun to go to Daegu, and I think the fans will love it a lot. As a veteran, I think he wants to lead the team stably by holding me in the middle and doing my part with the play. I'll prepare well accordingly"I'm determined.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
