Will he be able to overcome his release and receive a new opportunity? Ahead of the public announcement of the list of players on hold, each club organized its squads. The veteran player, who failed to rebound this season, volunteered to release him and took on new challenges.
Infielder Seo Geon-chang (34), catcher Lee Jae-won (35), and pitcher Song Eun-beom (39) are looking for a new team in a state of release. 스포츠토토
Seo Kun-chang was removed from the list of suspended players because he volunteered to be released by the LG club. Seo, who was traded from Kiwoom to LG at the end of July 2021, did not show a rebound for two and a half years. Seo, who joined LG as a fostering player in 2008, was released after two years and returned to LG through a trade, but the relationship ended with the release again.
LG traded Seo to reinforce its second baseman, who failed to meet expectations as he hit 247 (58 hits in 235 at-bats) with 24 RBIs in 68 games after moving to LG in the 2021 season. He earned a free agent status at the end of the season, but did not apply and chose to try again.
Seo has seen his performance deteriorate due to lackluster performance and injury in the 2022 season. He played in only 77 games and recorded a batting average of 2204 (49 hits in 219 times at bat). He chose to play as an FA. Ahead of this season, Yeom Kyung-yeop was appointed as the head coach of LG, and sought to make a comeback under his old coach. When Yeom Kyung-yeop was the head coach of the Nexen Heroes (2013-2016), Seo recorded 201 hits in 2014 and won the MVP award in the regular season.
Seo started the season with high expectations as he ranked first in batting average (batting average of .362) in exhibition games, but he recorded a batting average of 277 with 12 RBIs and 14 runs in 31 games until mid-May. He also made many mistakes in defense, and was eventually excluded from the first-team entry in mid-May. While Seo was out of the first team, Kim Min-sung and Shin Min-jae performed well, and there was no gap in the second base. Shin Min-jae made a surprise performance and took over the position as the main second baseman.
Seo belatedly returned to the main league during an expanded entry in September. He only posted a batting average of 177 percent (4 hits in 23 at-bats) in 23 games since September. He finished this season with a batting average of .20 (22 hits in 110 at-bats) or OPS .542. He was not included in the Korean Series entry. Judging that he had no room to play for LG, Seo requested his team be released. He is trying to find a team that lacks second baseman depth.
Lee Jae-won, who joined SK (the predecessor of SSG) in 2006 with the first nomination, served as a backup catcher and a pinch-hitter when SK won the integrated championship for two consecutive years from 2007 to 2008. Lee Jae-won, who has been the main player since 2014, served as the main catcher in 2018 and beat Doosan, the winner of the regular season, to win the Korean Series Upset.
Lee Jae-won, who became a free agent after winning the Korean Series, signed a four-year, 6.9 billion-dollar contract. His performance has been declining since the 2020 season. He played in 80 games in 2020 and had a slump with a batting average of 185 (41 hits in 222 at-bats) and two homers and 21 RBIs.
He seemed to rebound a little in 2021 with a batting average of 280 percent (76 for 271) with three homers and 30 RBIs, but SSG hired catcher Kim Min-sik in a trade during the 2022 season, and Lee Jae-won had only four homers and 28 RBIs in 105 games (47 for 234) in 2022.
Lee Jae-won had the worst season of his career this season with two RBIs with a batting average of 9.1 (four hits in 44 at-bats) in 27 games. In the second draft, SSG recruited two young catchers, Park Dae-on and Shin Bum-soo. Lee Jae-won made a decision and asked the club to release him.
Song moved to LG in July 2019 in a trade from Hanwha. He performed various duties in the bullpen, including long relief, must-win, and chase. However, he suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament in his knee while handling ground balls during a game in August 2021. He spent about a year in surgery and rehabilitation, and returned to the first team at the end of July 2022.
After his return, Song had one win, one loss, and two holds with a 4.05 ERA in 25 games. Ahead of this season, Song failed to agree on an annual salary contract until the start of the spring camp, and belatedly re-signed his contract for 140 million won in mid-February, a 10 million won reduction from last year’s 150 million won.
Song, who was preparing for this season at the spring camp for the second tier team, only allowed one run in four games, three ⅔, and innings in the first tier team. The number of days he registered for the first tier team was 27 days, trailing only Yoo Young-chan, Baek Seung-hyeon, Park Myung-geun and Choi Dong-hwan.
Song joined the club in 2003 as the first candidate of the former SK Wyverns, and moved to KIA in 2013, Hanwha in 2015, and LG in 2019, and played for 20 seasons so far this year. Song won the Korean Series three times (2007, 2008 and 2010) with the SK Wyverns. Song has posted an earned run average of 4.57 saves with 27 saves and 57 holds in 680 games so far this year. He has had a wealth of experience by starting, interim and finishing the game.
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