adminLast year’s Korean Series runner-up, Kiwoom Heroes, gave up on renewing the contract with foreign hitter Yasiel Puig, who recorded 15 hits, 2 home runs and 6 RBIs in 14 postseason games after last year’s season. This is because after the season, suspicions of illegal gambling broke out locally. And Kiwoom re-recruited infielder Edison Russell, who had 2 homers and 31 RBIs in 65 games wearing a Heroes uniform in 2020, for a total of $700,000.
Ultimately, it is still unknown how Kiwoom’s infield will be run this season, but one thing is clear: With the addition of Russell from the major leagues, the Heroes’ infield has become incomparably stronger than last year. In fact, Kiwoom played the shortstop position after Kim Hye-seong, the ‘Golden Gloves shortstop’ last season, transformed into second base, followed by Kim Hui-jip, Shin Jun-woo, and Kim Joo-hyung, but no player who could be called a ‘built-in starter’ appeared.
In contrast to Kiwoom, whose infield has become stronger with Russell’s addition, the outfield without Puig is clearly less weighty than last year. In fact, the only player who can be called a sure-fire starter in Kiwoom’s outfield is Lee Jeong-hoo, a ‘genius hitter’. However, as Puig, who was a sure starter, was left out, competition in the outfield became more intense than last year. As there is a vacancy due to Puig’s departure, if the players who are aiming for a starter leap are to impress Hong Won-ki, they can be selected as the starting outfielder this season. 토토사이트
The club that opened the door to the FA market this winter with a huge amount of over 60 billion won was Kiwoom, which is known for being stingy in investment. On November 19 last year, Kiwoom strengthened the bullpen, which was pointed out as a weakness, by recruiting Won Jong-hyun, who had a total of 82 saves and 86 holds, for a total of 2.5 billion won over 4 years. And on the 24th, 5 days later, outfielder Lee Hyung-jong, who was called the ‘Futures FA Big Fish’, which many clubs coveted, was brought in for a total of 2.5 billion won over 4 years, and they were reinforced.
Lee Hyeong-jong, who joined the LG Twins as a pitcher after receiving a down payment of 430 million won in 2008, spent a short period of wandering before transforming into a beast in 2016. Lee Hyung-jong has played in 624 games for the first team over the past 7 years, recording a batting average of .281, 63 homers, 254 RBIs and 286 runs. In particular, he has such excellent long hitting power that he recorded double-digit home runs for four consecutive years from 2018 to 2021 even though he used Jamsil Baseball Stadium as his home.