FA catcher Kim Min-sik, who failed to reach an agreement with SSG Landers even after the year passed, is at a disadvantage.
SSG acquired Lee Ji-young, an FA catcher who signed a two-year contract (350 million won per year, 50 million won option) with the Kiwoom Heroes in a trade on Wednesday. The team then gave Kiwoom a third-round pick of the 2025 rookie draft along with 250 million won in cash.
SSG sought the trade to reinforce the catcher’s lineup and stabilize the pitcher’s lineup. It is also hoped that Lee, who has 16 years of exemplary playing and excellent skills, will lead the team’s pitching staff and serve as a good mentor to the young catcher’s team.
“We started discussions with Lee about 10 days ago. He was very proactive,” SSG General Manager Kim Jae-hyun said. “Just because a player appeals doesn’t necessarily mean that we recruit him. Obviously, he judged that he was a necessary player for the team, and Lee received quite high marks in terms of both his skills and personality. I thought that young players need to learn something from Lee Ji-young in order to grow up.”
The SSG, which made major changes at the end of last season, reorganized its coaching staff in the first and second divisions, and will see its new head coach Lee Sung-yong take the helm. On top of that, the team is also making changes, and what stood out the most was strengthening its home turf.
Through the second draft on Nov. 22 last year, SSG acquired Park Dae-on (first-round pick, former NC Dinos) and Shin Bum-soo (third-round pick, former KIA Tigers). It even acquired two catcher resources, demonstrating its strong commitment to strengthening its power. “Internal review, the most necessary part was catcher position. We examined the second draft list and identified good catcher resources, and established a round-by-round strategy to recruit two catcher resources with the aim of strengthening catcher’s depth. I am satisfied by selecting the players that I targeted,” SSG said at the time.
Park Dae-on has played in 259 games in his professional league, recording 77 hits in 364 at-bats for a batting average of 0.212 with two homers and 23 RBIs and an OPS of 0.519. Last season, he consistently performed as a backup catcher by recording eight hits in 28 at-bats for a batting average of 0.286 with three RBIs and an OPS of 0.757. However, he was excluded from the list of protected players as he failed to survive fierce competition among Kim Hyung-joon, Park Se-hyuk, and Ahn Jung-yeol.
Shin Bum-soo, who was called by SSG in the third round, was sluggish in the 2023 season with a batting average of 15 for 88 in 36 games with a batting average of 0.170 with two homers and 10 RBIs, with a batting average of 31 for 173 in 96 games. Although KIA, which suffered from catcher difficulties, found the growth of young catchers such as Han Jun-su, it was not easy to tie up all the players. SSG, which needed at least one more catcher who could be used in the first division right now, did not miss that Shin was excluded from the list. 랭크카지노주소
“Park Dae-on was designated as a first-team resource in order to reinforce his most urgent catcher Debs next season,” SSG said. “He has extensive experience in the first team, and he has excellent combination of pitcher leads and balls, as well as ability to block and throw to second base.” “He is a player who does not deteriorate significantly in batting, and I judged that he has no shortage as a backup catcher for the first team,” he said. “He is a catcher with experience in the first team and can be used as a backup catcher for the 2024 season. As a young player, he has room for further development if he gains experience.”