4 years and 1 month have passed. The KBO League’s first triangular trade winners are Kiwoom and Lee Ji-young.
It was December 7, 2018. Kiwoom, SK, and Samsung conducted a triangular trade. Kiwoom sent outfielder Ko Jong-wook to SK and received catcher Lee Ji-young from Samsung. SK gave outfielder Kim Dong-yeop to Samsung in exchange for Ko Jong-wook. Samsung sent Lee Ji-young instead of Kim Dong-yeop.
Currently, Kiwoom has a lot of promising catchers who support the pillar named Lee Ji-young. However, at the time, Park Dong-won (LG) left due to an unfortunate incident, and the homeroom depth was uneasy. Instead, there was some leeway in the outfield. SK is a team with many mid- and long-distance hitters, so it was desirable to give up Kim Dong-yeop and get a hitter who boasts a 30% overall hitter in terms of batting line balance. Samsung needed to reinforce the batting line with poor hitting power while using a hitter-friendly home stadium. The homeroom was in a situation where there was room for Kang Min-ho a year ago.
Four years have passed. The success or failure of this trade can now be argued with certainty. Kiwoom and Lee Jiyoung are Winner. In particular, Lee Ji-young is the biggest winner. However, SSG and Samsung are close to losers. Still, KIA tasted a half-benefit, and Ko Jong-wook started his third life. After ending the relationship with Lee Ji-young, Samsung became a catcher kingdom again, but it was not fun at all with Kim Dong-yeop.
Lee Ji-young had batting averages of 0.282, 0.309, 0.275, and 0.267 from 2019 to 2022. He consistently produced 31-39 RBIs, and played in more than 100 games until 2021 while dividing the home with Park Dong-won. In the 2022 season, when Park Dong-won left for KIA, he played 137 games.
Based on the baseball statistics site Statties, in the 2022 season, WAA was 1.001 for catchers, 994⅔ innings for catchers, 2nd for most innings, ERA for catchers 3.52, 4th, PASS/9 0.371, 6th, and stealing rate 34%. He is the league’s top offensive and defensive catcher.
He signed a 3-year, 1.8 billion won contract in the 2019-2022 free agent market. In the end, this contract turned out to be a Hyeja contract. His salary for the 2022 season was 300 million won, and a salary increase for the 2023 season is also certain. After the 2023 season, he will be eligible for free agency again 메이저사이트. There is a clear premium as a catcher who has already led the runner-up in the Korean Series twice. Moreover, at the age of 37, as a backup catcher for the WBC national team, he wears the Taegeuk mark too late.
On the other hand, SSG and Ko Jong-wook were not meant to be. Still, Ko Jong-wook was good with a batting average of 0.323, 3 home runs and 56 RBIs in 137 games in SK in 2019. However, his productivity declined with a batting average of 0.283 with 3 homers and 26 RBIs in 92 games in 2020, and a batting average of 0.267 with 2 homers and 18 runs in 88 games in 2021. Eventually, he was released after the 2021 season. For SSG, the recruitment of Koh Jong-wook was a half-success.
Ko Jong-wook later joined the KIA through a test. He had a batting average of 0.283, 2 home runs and 14 RBIs in 62 games in the 2022 season. It is not easy to become a full-time starter as the defensive weakness is still unstable. Still, it was confirmed that he has value as a left-handed hitter with a career-high 30%. KIA saw some sort of reflective benefit from this triangular trade. If Ko Jong-wook plays well this year, a hidden winner is possible. However, Choi Won-joon will be discharged in June of this year. A tough season is expected for Ko Jong-wook.
Samsung and Kim Dong-yeop are roughly in trouble, close to losers. Kim Dong-yeop made a big success in 115 games in 2020 with a batting average of 0.312, 20 homers, 74 RBIs and an OPS of 0.868. But that was all. He suffered the worst sluggishness, batting average of 0.215, 6 homers and 25 RBIs in 60 games in 2019, batting average of 0.238, 4 home runs and 24 RBIs in 69 games in 2021, and 0.221 batting average 2 homers and 4 RBIs in 30 games in 2022. Like Ko Jong-wook, his defensive power is not good, but it is a case where he did not even show his strengths.
Manager Park Jin-man prefers a defensive lineup. In fact, most directors are like that. Director Park should be seen as having a more solid style. In that respect, there is no guarantee that if Kim Dong-yeop fails to reciprocate with a single shot, he will be promoted this season. Ji-Young Lee’s free agent contract and selection for the WBC national team and Kim Dong-yeop’s situation contrast greatly.
