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Kim Ha-sung rejected the mutual option with the San Diego Padres and went to the FA market because he had his own strategy.

In addition, when Kim Ha-sung replaced his agent with Scott Boras just before the mutual option was rejected, local media showed great interest in Boras’ FA strategy, making various observations.

Observers have one thing in common, however. They wonder what it would have been like if Kim Ha-sung had finished his fourth season in San Diego this year in good health. All of them seem to be regretful, believing that a contract worth more than 100 million dollars for more than five years would have been easy.

Willy Adames is the biggest shortstop in the FA market. He played in 161 games for the Milwaukee Brewers this season and recorded a batting average of 0.251 (153 hits in 610 at-bats), 32 homers, 112 RBIs, 93 points, 21 steals, and an OPS of 0.794. He displayed career highs in almost all categories including home runs, RBIs, runs, hits, and stolen bases.

On the projected contract size, ESPN offered $189 million for seven years, MLBTR offered $160 million for six years, FanGraphs offered $145 million for five years, Bleacher Report for seven years, and The Athletic for six years. It is considered to be one of the highest level among shortstop free agents in history.

If Kim Ha-sung had not been injured in his shoulder and had only surgery, he would have boasted market value as much as Adames. Even if Kim Ha-sung’s batting power is lower than Adames, there is nothing to lose. In particular, defense and base running have been evaluated as having the best skills in the Major League.

For this reason, there is a prospect that Kim Ha-sung may hit an unexpected jackpot.

MLB.com mentioned Kim Ha-sung for the third time after starting pitchers Shane Bieber and Walker Buehler in an article titled “Five FA Better Than You Think” on the 18th (Korea Standard Time).

Reporter Andrew Simon, who wrote the article, presupposed, “Kim Ha-sung has two problems that hinder him from getting a big contract this winter,” and said, “First of all, the most important thing is that he ruptured his right shoulder’s wavelength in August, ending the 토토사이트 season early and undergoing surgery. This allows him to return after the opening game of next season.”

Kim Ha-sung received a suture surgery on the right shoulder at the guide of Dr. Neil Elatrice in Los Angeles on Oct. 11. The rehabilitation process will take at least six months, which will enable him to return after mid-April next year at the earliest. It remains to be seen whether he will be able to regain his skills through offense and defense even if he returns. For this reason, it is difficult to sign a jackpot contract.

“Secondly, we lack the firepower to attack big time. During the four seasons of the Padres, he only posted a batting average of 0.242 and a slugging percentage of 0.380, pointing out that he is not a power heater.

However, it also introduced clear and differentiated strengths that contrast with shortcomings.

Reporter Simon said, “Nevertheless, Kim Ha-sung’s value is high because he has the opposite characteristics of FA such as Pete Alonso. Kim Ha-sung does not hit by splitting the ball like Alonso, but he provides excellent defense while watching premium positions (strikes) and has excellent base learning,” adding, “He has the ability to handle bats, so he floats the ball enough to hit double-digit home runs, and he knows how to balance patience and contact ability.”

In conclusion, “If these points are combined, Kim Ha-sung showed the productivity of the top 20 in the bWAR category for 2022-2023 and two years. There is not much difference from Juan Soto,” he said. Kim Ha-sung marked a bWAR of 4.9 in 2022 and 5.8 in 2023, and Soto marked a bWAR of 5.5 for the second consecutive year. Since Kim Ha-sung recorded 10.7 and Soto 11.0 in two years, the difference is not big.

However, reporter Simon said, “Even if we sign a long-term contract, we will not be able to approach the level that power heater Adames receives in terms of total amount. However, it would not be surprising if healthy Kim Ha-sung showed a similar level of performance to Adames.”

In the end, there is room for him to regain his health and revive his offense.

Arsenal are trying to pay a huge amount of money to recruit Hafeeña (Barcelona).

Arsenal ranks fourth in the English Premier League in the 2023-24 season. Contrary to what was expected before the season, the team has been struggling with key players including Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino since the beginning of the season.

The strikers are also agonizing over the loss. Bukayo Saka had the most attack points with three goals and seven assists in 10 matches of the league, while Kai Havertz has also scored four goals, but other strikers continue to show sluggish performance. Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossar, Gabriel Jesus, and Raheem Sterling lack destructive power.

Arsenal are looking for a new wing-forward to do so and have chosen to target Hafinha. Hafinha made his Premier League debut by playing for Leeds for the next two seasons in the 2020-21 season. Having shown sharp left-footed shooting and dribbling skills, Hafinha joined the Barcelona outfit for a fee of 60 million pounds (W105 billion) in the 2022-23 season.

Contrary to expectations, Hafinha lost his sharpness on the Spanish stage. In his first season, he played 36 matches in the Primera Liga and scored only seven goals, and last season, he was lagging behind in competition to become a starting member and only made 17 starts. Eventually, Hafinha faced a crisis as he was listed on the sale list.

Hafinya has achieved a complete revival this season. Hafinya has recovered his previous performance under Coach Han Ji Flick. He has scored seven goals and eight assists in 13 matches in La Liga, five goals and two assists in the 비아마켓 Champions League, and has posted 22 offensive points with 12 goals and 10 assists in 17 matches overall this season.

Naturally, big clubs such as Arsenal and Chelsea have reignited their interest in Hafinha. Arsenal also plan to pay an extraordinary amount. Spain’s “El Nacional” reported on the 16th (Korea time) that “Arnal plans to invest 90 million euros (about 132 billion won) in recruiting Hafinha.”

Barcelona originally planned to sell Haphinha, but has categorized Haphinha as a key resource starting from this season’s change. To recruit Haphinha, he has to persuade Barcelona with a considerable amount of money.

Is Son a world class player? To this question, Jamie O’Hara, a soccer expert from Tottenham, expressed his opinion. O’Hara is famous for making strict diagnoses of Son.

The British media “TBR Football” said on Monday (Korea time) whether O’Hara considers Son a world class. O’Hara highly values Son and believes he is a legend of Tottenham. However, he no longer believes he is the best in the world.

“It used to be like that. But it’s not a world class anymore. I think he used to be a world class. He’s not a world class anymore,” O’Hara said.

“Listen. I’m not ignoring Son. He’s a legend. I love Son. He’s helpful to the team, but that doesn’t mean he’s a world class,” O’Hara said.

TBR Football said, “Tottenham has a lot of good players. Although it is not a club that seeks to win the Premier League, there are many quality players such as Christian Romero, James Maddison, and Mickey van der Pen. Another well-known player at Tottenham is Son Heung-min.”

TBR Football said, ‘Son Heung-min is a striker for the Korean national team. He moved from Leverkusen to Tottenham in the summer of 2015. Since then, he has been a key striker for Tottenham. Jack Grealish, England’s star of Manchester City, highly praised Son. There is no doubt that Son Heung-min is valuable to Tottenham.’

TBR Football said, “Son Heung-min, who is 32 this year, has played 311 times in Premier League matches so far. He has 123 goals and 65 assists. However, O’Hara no longer thinks Son is among the best in the world. O’Hara thinks Mickey van der Pen is a world class.”

TBR Football was concerned that Son Heung-min’s future at Tottenham was uncertain.

TBR Football said, “He could leave Tottenham in 2025. He is still an important player at Tottenham and a regular in the starting lineup. He has three goals and three assists in eight Premier League games this season. However, this season could be the last. Saudi Arabian clubs are interested in recruiting Son in 2025.

“Tottenham will not offer Son a new contract. Instead, it will exercise its one-year option,” he predicted.

The British media “Cutoffside” reported on Monday (Korea time) that Tottenham legend Son Heung-min had a lot of uncertainty about his future. However, there are reports that he will be playing at the club after next summer.

Cutoffside said, “The 32-year-old Son Heung-min’s contract with Tottenham expires at the end of the season. Tottenham can trigger an option to extend their contract until 2026.

If Tottenham executes the option, Son Heung-min will play for Tottenham from 2025 to 2026.

“Sky Sports Germany’s Florian Flettenberg said Tottenham is expected to activate the option and Son Heung-min will stay in North London for another year,” Cutoffside added. “He said Son Heung-min wants to win the trophy at Tottenham.”

Unlike his personal career, Son Heung-min has never won a major championship as a 비아그라 team.

He has been frustrated several times on the threshold of winning the title, including runner-up at the Asian Cup, runner-up at the Champions League, second place in the Premier League, and runner-up at the League Cup. Tottenham also won only one major championship in the 21st century, only once in the 2008 League Cup.

Cutoffside said, “He has been with Tottenham since 2015. For the past 10 years, he has achieved a legendary career by scoring 165 goals and 87 assists in 419 games for Tottenham. Thanks to his long career, he received the captain’s armband.”

Cutoffside said, “If anyone deserves to lift a trophy at Tottenham, it is Son Heung-min. Tottenham, led by coach Enze Postecoglou, deserves to win the Cup this season, but needs improvement. Son Heung-min also needs a rebound because he is not in the best condition. He said, “I scored three goals and three assists in eight Premier League games,” and advised that some improvement is needed.

Son Heung-min (Tottenham) is not satisfied with the current situation.

Spanish media “Pichahes” reported on the 18th (Korean time) that “Son Heung-min is dissatisfied with the contract extension conditions proposed by the club. This is because the team plans to renew the contract at the same level as the current conditions. Son Heung-min feels that such an offer is insufficient considering his outstanding performance.”

“Son Heung-min feels that his dedication and performance deserve improved terms in terms of contract period and salary,” he added.

However, British media ‘Talk Sports’ said, “The club’s management is trying to invoke a clause that unilaterally extends the contract without adjusting his salary.”

“There is a very high possibility that Son will stay at Tottenham for another year,” Florian Plattenberg, a reporter for the “German version of Sky Sports,” said on the 17th. “World-class winger also wants to stay at Tottenham.” Tottenham plans to use Son’s one-year extension option and stay with Son until June 2026.

Fabrizio Romano, an expert on the transfer market, also said, “Tottenham has started the process of invoking a contract clause that extends Son’s contract until June 2026. He will be accompanied by Tottenham for at least one more season (than the previous contract).” Both Plattenberg and Romano highly evaluated the possibility of Son staying.

Tottenham signed Son Heung-min’s last contract in July 2021. The two sides’ companion, which signed a four-year contract at the time, ends in 2025. However, Tottenham reportedly has the option to extend its contract for another year.

According to reports, Tottenham seems to have decided to activate the existing option rather than signing a new contract with Son Heung-min right away.

Son Heung-min, who left Leverkusen in August 2015 and signed a five-year contract with Tottenham for a transfer fee of £22 million, extended his contract to 2023 by renewing his contract in July 2018, and is scheduled to play until 2025 as he re-signed for a second time in July 2021.

With Son’s contract terminated at the end of the 2024-25 season, fans have been paying keen attention to whether to renew the contract. Tottenham, however, has remained silent.

In September, Son Heung-min gave a theoretical answer when asked about renewing his contract at a press conference ahead of the first leg of the UEFA Europa League phase with Garabach.

In fact, news of renewed contracts between Tottenham and Son began early in the 2023-24 season. Tottenham was committed to protecting Son by sending Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), one of the top-rated strikers in Europe, to other teams. Tottenham is recognizing that it is a spiritual pillar of the locker room as it is expanding its influence from key players to young players. Some warned that if Tottenham sends Son, it will not be able to win the title, which was a long-cherished task.

Tottenham formed a consensus by negotiating re-signing with Son Heung-min. “Football Insider” announced in March that “Even Chairman 비아그라 will come forward to renew the contract.” He also reported that he will continue to accompany Tottenham unless there is a big deal, saying he will sign the contract renewal this summer.

One stumbling block was Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was linked to the Saudi Arabian team including Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne last summer, and there is another “oil money” rush in the Middle East this year. The Saudi Arabian team is expected to propose a four-year annual salary of 84 billion won (84 million U.S. dollars) to recruit Son this summer.

However, Son has repeatedly made moves to Saudi Arabia. He still has a winning task to play for Tottenham, and hence is re-signing the contract. Even though all of his teammates who enjoyed his prime after joining Tottenham in 2015 left the team, Son Heung-min, who is playing as a solo player, had promised to receive the highest treatment.

However, the situation has changed as time has passed. According to the sports media “The Athletic,” Tottenham announced that it plans to issue a one-year extension with Son. Public opinion that the option to extend the one-year extension was not given legendary treatment was prevalent.

Son Heung-min was born in 1992 and has no idea when his performance will decline. Tottenham is monitoring the situation after pushing for a one-year contract extension rather than a long-term contract in preparation for Son’s deteriorating performance. In fact, he was absent due to injury several times this season.

Carney Chukuehmeka is set to leave Chelsea soon.

British ‘Tribuna’ said on the 17th (Korea Standard Time) that “Chukueh Mecca, who is barely playing, plans to leave Chelsea.”

Born in 2003, midfielder Chukuehmeka was Aston Villa’s long-awaited midfield resource. Growing up in Villa Youth, he made his professional debut as a substitute in a match against Tottenham Hotspur back in 2021 and gained fans’ expectations by showing his active movement in a short period of time. The final record for the 2020-21 season is two games.

Since the 2021-22 season, which was his second year, he has secured opportunities to select players and move between the bench and the starting lineup. However, the player himself wanted to guarantee a starting lineup, and “big clubs” such as Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Paris Saint-Germain (비아그라) started to drool over him. The final record for the 2021-22 season is two goals and three assists in 22 matches.

Eventually, he left the villa two years after his debut. His destination was Chelsea. Villa fans criticized his move to a more competitive “big club,” contrary to rumors that he moved to play time.

Concerns have become a reality. Since moving to Chelsea, he has hardly been able to afford to play. He only played 492 minutes in 17 games in the 2022-23 season, and became an “external resource” after losing ground to outstanding competitors such as Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo in the 2023-24 season. Enzo Maresca will only play 49 minutes this season.

Chukuemeka has failed to stand out since joining the club. Chukuemeka is also likely to move to the club. The media reported that Chukuemeka liked his SNS post saying that he could leave Chelsea in January. He has decided to move to the club.

Ruud van Nistelrooy (48) was reportedly shocked when he left Manchester United.

“Fan Nisteloy was devastated when Hoobeng Amorim was appointed as Manchester United’s coach and his exit was decided,” the soccer specialized “Goal Dotcom” said on the 17th (Korea Standard Time), adding, “His old friend Andre Oyere testified.”

According to the media, Oyere said, “Fan Nistelrooy wanted to stay with Manchester United as a head coach. I had enough opportunities to be a coach or head coach of another team, but I didn’t because I wanted to work for Manchester United, which is his favorite club.”

Van Nistelrooy, who was Manchester United’s senior coach, took over as acting coach when Erik ten Hag was replaced on April 27. He perfectly performed his role as a firefighter by garnering three wins and one draw from four official matches. Amorim, who will lead Manchester United after the A-match break, will also take over the team in a good atmosphere thanks to Van Nistelrooy.

Oyere said, “Don’t forget that Van Nistelrooy did a really good job as an acting manager at Manchester United. He won the other three games after a draw with Chelsea. I could feel that the Manchester United fans really liked him. You can see how the Manchester United fans reacted after his last game.”

He added, “Pan Nistelrooy did well even in difficult situations. If Amorim is sluggish in the first few games, Manchester United fans may find Van Nistelrooy again.”

비아그라 and Van Nistelrooy have a close relationship. When Van Nistelrooy was the PSV Eindhoven head coach for a year from 2022, Oyere assisted him as the head coach. As a player, he played for Eindhoven and the Dutch national team for a long time.

Van Nistelrooy conveyed his desire to remain in the team even if Amorim took over at Manchester United, but Manchester United did not allow it. British ‘The Sun’ explained on the 13th, “There was only one reason why Van Nistelrooy wanted to remain at Manchester United. Because he loved Manchester United so much. However, he was a pragmatist and knew that Amorim wanted all control, including the coaches, and had no choice but to leave Manchester United.”

Van Nistelrooy, who left Manchester United, is likely to take over as the new team’s manager. Talk Sports in England said on the 16th, “Van Nistelrooy wants the position of manager of the English Championship (second division). He applied for the vacant Coventry City manager position. He left Old Trafford after being informed that he would not remain at Manchester United under Amorim.”

Van Nistelrooy will compete against “EPL legend” Frank Lampard. According to the media, the owner of Coventry Doug King wrote, “High quality candidates have submitted resumes. Lampard is one of them.” Lampard is a legendary midfielder who played for Chelsea and England, and has coached Derby County, Chelsea and Everton since his retirement.

The Dodgers beat the New York Mets 9-0 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series (four wins out of seven) at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California on the 14th (Korea time). In MLB postseason history, there is a 64% chance that the team that won Game 1 of the best-of-seven series will be the final winner (123 times out of 191).

The Dodgers, which showed off powerful pitching capability, boasted the prowess of its team shut out for three consecutive postseason games following games (8-0 win) and games (2-0 win) of the Division Series against the San Diego Padres. It is the third record in MLB history after the New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants) in 1905 and the Baltimore Orioles in 1966.

The Dodgers also recorded 33 consecutive scoreless innings from the third inning of Game 3 of the Division Series on the 9th to tie Baltimore’s record of most consecutive scoreless innings in a single postseason set in the 1966 World Series.

If the Dodgers allow more than one scoreless inning in the second game on Saturday, a new record will be created. The Dodgers announced Walker Buehler and the Mets announced Sean Manaea as starting pitchers in the second game, respectively.

The two teams were determined in the starting pitcher competition. Dodgers starter Zack Flaherty completely dominated the Mets’ lineup by allowing two hits and six strikeouts during seven innings. In contrast, Mets starter 롤토토 showed sluggish performance by allowing four walks during one and one third of innings, allowing two hits and three runs.

The first face-off between Ohtani and Senga, who drew attention not only from the U.S. but also from Japan, ended in a bland manner. Ohtani, who started as the first designated hitter on the day, grounded out to second base at his first at-bat in the first inning. However, in the second at-bat with one out and runners on second base in the second inning with the Dodgers leading 2-0, he hit a cut fastball (146 kilometers per hour) at Sena’s first pitch, and hit a timely hit to the right. It was a blow that eventually brought down Senga from the mound.

During the regular season, Ohtani met with Senga three times, and garnered one hit and two walks, to get on base 100 percent. He continued to display strong performance in the postseason, never missing a chance to score. However, he was out after trying to steal second base during Freddie Freeman’s at-bat with two outs and a runner on the first base, and thus failed to steal a base for the first time in the postseason this year.

Following starting pitcher Flaherty, bullpen pitchers Dan Hudson and Ben Casparires pitched the remaining two innings together, allowing one hit and no run to complete the team’s shutout victory. Dodgers’ flagship hitters Mookie Betts (one hit and three RBIs from four times at bat) and Freeman (two hits and one RBI from three times at bat) also showed stellar performance.

Do we really have to trust “the one and only God”? The idea of the LG Twins’ bullpen pitcher lineup is faltering.

LG suffered a crushing defeat of 4-10 in the first playoff game held at Samsung Lions Park in Daegu on Sunday. LG, which was engaged in blood clots in Game 5 of the semi-playoff, lost the chance to advance to the Korean Series, narrowing the gap between the two teams. In the best-of-five playoff series, the probability that the team that wins Game 1 will advance to the Korean Series was 75.7 percent (25 out of 33).

On the day, LG Twins’ starting pitcher Choi Won-tae collapsed. He collapsed by allowing seven hits (two homers), three strikeouts and five runs in three innings. When Choi went down the mound, the score was 1-5. Although the gap was four points, the game had just entered the middle of the game, and the game was over for a short period of time in the postseason.

The LG Twins deployed Yoo Young-chan, the closing pitcher for the regular season. Yoo treated his first batter Lee Jae-hyun with a foul fly and gave up an infield hit to Ryu Ji-hyuk, but overcame the crisis by using a double play by shortstop.

In the fifth inning, another team led by Kim Jin-seong, a two-run homerun, was deployed. However, Kim Jin-seong only had one out count, allowing Diaz to hit two-run homeruns. The gap widened to 1-7. LG used all of its de facto winning teams. Only one player, Elleage Hernandez, who showed off his fighting spirit by taking the mound in all five semi-playoffs, did not appear. Since then, he has deployed all of his bullpen pitchers, including Jung Woo-young, Kim Yoo-young, Baek Seung-hyeon, Lee Jong-joon and Kim Dae-hyun, but the final score was 4-10.

In five semi-playoff games, LG effectively managed the bullpen with Son Ju-young, the left-hander who led the team to victory in two games by playing Hernandez and Long Relief. Hernandez pitched in all five games and played seven ⅓ innings, while Son pitched in a total of seven ⅓ innings, including five ⅓ innings in Game 3 and two innings in Game 5. In the semi-playoff games, the bullpen played a total of 24 innings, with the two players responsible for more than half of the 14 ⅔ innings. The team accounted for more than 61 percent of the total.

However, in the playoffs, we cannot blindly depend on Hernandez and Son Joo-young. For now, Son will be the starting pitcher in the playoffs. Manager Yeom Kyung-yeop predicted Son as the starting pitcher for Game 3.

And Hernandez is tired for now. “The key point in running a pitcher in this series is not only starting a pitcher, but also whether the existing middle pitchers will play the role of Hernandez and (Son) Ju-young will be important,” Yeom said ahead of the first game. “Yoo Young-chan can pitch two innings like he did in last year’s 슬롯사이트 Series. Kim Jin-sung can pitch two innings as well. Two players can play multiple innings, and the rest of the players try to lead one inning at a maximum. We will make the most of our resources such as Baek Seung-hyeon and Kim Yoo-young to put in the possibility of blocking them.”

“He can have five out-counts in the back and one out in the eighth inning,” he said. “Only one player, Elly, is tired during the semi-playoff. Existing middle pitchers have had a good rest. They must feel like they are starting the post-season. Their role will be important.”

However, other bullpen pitchers except Hernandez did not leave a strong impression in the first round game of the playoffs. This is the management of the bullpen, which cannot afford to watch Hernandez until any time. It is time for LG’s bullpen to make efforts.

The Lotte Giants, who failed to fill the shortstop hole even after investing a large amount of money, are deeply worried. Although they have found a new starting player named Park Seung-wook (31), their weaknesses still stand out compared to other teams.

Lotte signed a four-year free agent contract with Roh Jin-hyuk, an offensive shortstop who hit double-digit homers (2018-2020) for three consecutive seasons in November 2022. Contrary to expectations, Roh suffered the worst slump. Roh, who had a monthly batting average of 0.154 between March and April, was demoted to the second tier.

After Noh Jin-hyuk was notified of the second division, Park Seung-wook and Lee Hak-joo began to take turns in shortstop positions. It was Park Seung-wook who survived to the end of the two players. Lee Hak-joo was canceled from the first division on July 13, and Park Seung-wook became Lotte’s main shortstop because he was not called up until the end of the season.

Park had a batting average of 0.262, seven homers, 53 RBIs and an OPS of 0.716, in 139 games in the 2024 season. He left a meaningful record in offense. Since his debut as a pro, he has played the most games in the first team, hit a career-high seven homers and recorded his first 100 hits (106 hits). Noh Jin-hyuk and Lee Hak-joo were sluggish, but they struggled in their own way.

The problem was defense. Having revealed his weakness in defense, Park did not appear to be the main player. With 23 errors in the 2024 season, Park tied for second with Park Chan-ho (KIA Tigers) and Park Sung-han (SSG Landers) in overall error category.

Park Chan-ho (1,120 ⅓ innings) and Park Sung-han (1,115 innings) worked over 1,100 defensive innings, recording 23 errors and making up some of their disappointment in defense with a batting average of 300. Park, on the other hand, recorded 22 errors in 833 innings as a shortstop, and frequently made fatal errors at important moments.

Unless conditions change for the next season, the main shortstop is highly likely to be Park Seung-wook. There is a very small chance that Lee Hak-joo and Roh Jin-hyuk, who are in their mid-30s, will rebound in the 2025 season. Young players who can play shortstop Kim Se-min and Han Tae-yang will finish their military service, but no guarantee of their performance in the first division can be guaranteed. Rookie Lee Ho-joon has no experience playing in full-time seasons.

Lotte’s shortstop position worries have plagued the team for a long time. Lotte, which could not find a stable shortstop on either side of offense or defense, started to solve shortstop position concerns with a foreign hitter card called Dixon Machado in 2020. Machado batted in the late-2020 (0.280 in 2020 and 0.279 in 2021) during the two seasons (2020-2021), and the number of errors was only 21 (10 in 2020 and 11 in 2021).

꽁머니‘s presence has stabilized Lotte’s defense as a whole. Rodong, who had ranked first in league errors for two consecutive seasons in 2018 (117) and 2019 (114), suffered a setback in 2020 by ranking at least fourth (94), and at least first in 2021 (85). However, Lotte eventually ended up accompanying Machado because it lacked the offensive power to use foreign batter slots as shortstop. After that, in 2022, Lotte remained at the bottom of its team’s shortstop batting average (0.209) and OPS (0.556), falling back into a swamp of shortstop agony. As a result, he made a bold investment in FA Noh Jin-hyuk, but the problem still remains unresolved.

If Lotte wants to solve its shortstop problem, it can enter the FA market again. Shim Woo-joon of KT Wiz, who has strong defense, will become an FA after the end of this season. However, chances are high that key relief pitchers Kim Won-joong and Koo Seung-min will apply for the FA. Both players performed below expectations in the 2024 season, but since there is no suitable substitute, they should strive to crack down on the players rather than recruit them from outside.

Lotte, which ranked second after the KIA Tigers (146 errors) with 123 mistakes, needs to stabilize its defense in order to qualify for the fall baseball next season. To this end, the shortstop issue, dubbed the “flower of defense,” should be resolved, but the 2024 season proved that it is too much to trust Park. Although the team has revealed its limitations, the wrinkles are getting bigger due to lack of resources to replace Park.

It was an appearance that will be imprinted on baseball fans for a long time.

This is the story of Samsung pitcher Kim Yoon-soo, who appeared “caught” by his colleague Kim Tae-hoon at the moment of the crisis and struck out the opponent’s best hitter with three pitches.

Kim Yoon-soo, who met with a KBS reporter ahead of the second game, explained the situation at the time, “I couldn’t get the message of who was going out because the surroundings were very noisy. Everyone was busy, and I ran out in a hurry after (Kim) Tae-hoon caught me and confirmed me.”

“My friends sent me a lot of videos (shorts),” Kim said with a smile. “My face looked quite funny. My fans left a lot of comments, so I had fun looking through them.”

The appearance made fans laugh, but Kim Yun-soo surprised fans with the appearance.

The game has narrowed down to three points. At a desperate juncture when a single homerun is tying the game, Kim defeated LG Austin, the best hitter in the league, with three balls. Austin’s three bat wasted no time, and the speed was 155 km/h.

“In the last LG match in the regular league, I gave Austin a score while throwing a breaking ball in the same 0-2 count,” Kim Yoon-soo said. “I remember (Park) Byung-ho saying, ‘You have to play with a fast ball unconditionally,’ so I threw a fast ball boldly.”

Kim Yoon-soo, who blocked LG’s counterattack with an impactful pitch, also took the mound in the next inning (8th inning), but was withdrawn after giving up a hit ball to leadoff hitter Kim Hyun-soo.

“I thought I should catch the leadoff hitter somehow, but I made another mistake,” said Kim Yoon-soo, who expressed regret and said, “I thought I should throw more carefully so as not to make such a mistake in the next game and next 꽁머니 League.”

When asked by a reporter, “How do you want to appear next time?” Kim Yoon-soo, who answered, “I just want to appear normal,” strengthened his will for the upcoming game, saying, “I want to make a pitch that doesn’t allow a run next time.”