What kind of ending will the trade left by Jang Jung-seok’s ‘disgraceful resignation’ system lead to?

Only trade was left. 

As soon as the KIA Tigers finished the 2021 season in 9th place, they were caught in a huge whirlwind. On November 1, the day after the season ended, the first person to resign at the same time as the manager, general manager, and CEO was held to take responsibility for the poor performance. As much as that, the parent group looked at the baseball team with a strict perspective. 

CEO Joon-Young Choi took over as manager to rectify the situation, appointing general manager Jang Jeong-seok and new manager Kim Jong-guk in turn. Director Kim’s appointment was expected, but Jang was unexpected. I didn’t have much contact with the Tigers. He played for two years in the early 2000s, but was someone who briefly passed by. 

He was recognized for his skills and experience during his time at Nexen. Since retiring from his playing career, he has worked as first-team scorer, manager, operations manager, and manager. He watched Nexen’s management techniques for developing players, and as a manager, he even advanced to the Korean series. Two years as a baseball commentator brightened his career. Expectations were raised in that he knew both the front and the field. 

With his appointment, General Manager Jang embarked on an aggressive reinforcement of power. He signed free agency contracts with Na Seong-beom for 6 years and 15 billion won and ace Yang Hyeon-jong for 4 years and 10.3 billion won, respectively안전놀이터. Next was the trade. On April 23, 2022, outfielder Lee Jin-young and pitcher Lee Min-woo were given to Hanwha to recruit Kim Do-hyeon (Kim Lee-hwan). Two days later, Kiwoom handed over infielder Kim Tae-jin, 2023 second round rookie nominations, and 1 billion won in cash to obtain catcher Park Dong-won.

When the catcher overflowed, he made another trade with SSG Landers. The 2017 championship catcher Kim Min-shik was replaced by infielder Lim Seok-jin and left-handed pitcher Kim Jeong-bin. At the end of the season, Hanwha recruited promising geopo Byun Woo-hyuk. Instead, he handed over center pitcher Han Seung-hyuk and promising pitcher Jang Ji-soo. When Park Dong-won’s chances of remaining were slim, he gave Kiwoom the right to pick the 3rd round rookie in 2024 and recruited catcher Joo Hyo-sang. 

As a result, among the players recruited through trade, only Park Dong-won has achieved good results in the first team. In addition, after 7 months, he obtained FA qualification and transferred to LG. When he left the team, criticism came that he had given too much to Kiwoom. The rest either stayed with the Futures team or enlisted (Kim Do-hyun). Byun Woo-hyeok and Joo Hyo-sang will be evaluated in the first team regular league this year. There was also an expectation that the two players would fill Park Dong-won’s emptiness ahead of the opening.

However, general manager Jang resigned in disgrace due to controversy over asking for back money in the process of contract renewal negotiations with the unbelievable Park Dong-won. The club decided to dismiss Park Dong-won through the disciplinary committee after hearing the recording. They betrayed the fans who supported Roar. Now, I am curious about the outcome and evaluation of the trade left by the Jang Jeong-seok system.