July 29, two days before the trade deadline. The Kiwoom Heroes, who sent their main starting pitcher Choi Won-tae (26) to the leading LG Twins, said they “didn’t give up on the season”.
Kiwoom was in ninth place at the time, but only 3.5 games out of fifth place. 토토 Even considering that their leadoff hitter Lee Jung-hoo was effectively out for the season, they couldn’t erase their chances of making the postseason at the start of the second half.
Twelve days after handing over Choi Won-tae, Kiwoom had fallen to last place. 10th place for the first time in 835 days since April 27, 2021.
Since the trade, Kiwoom’s record is 1-10. They lost nine straight games after the trade, tying the club’s longest losing streak, and barely broke the streak in game nine, but the 10th loss dropped them to last place.
The gap to the fifth-place Doosan Bears is 10 games. The gap with the KT Wiz, who were fifth at the time of the trade and are now third, has widened dramatically from 3.5 games to 12 games. Not only are they in last place, but their postseason hopes have been dashed.
In fact, it was a result that anyone could have expected. Without Lee Jeong-hoo, the team was left without one of the best starting pitchers in the league.
The team is as weak as ever, and the morale of the remaining players is bound to sink. In this situation, the “it’s not the end of the season” defense was ironic.
The players, the coaching staff, and the fans are the ones who are suffering the most. They finished last season as the Korean Series runners-up and were ready for a “beautiful farewell” to Lee Jeong-hoo with hopes of challenging for the Grand Prix, but after only half a season, 안전놀이터 this is what the team has become.
Lee’s injury was more of a “natural disaster” that no one could have predicted, but it’s a shame that the team immediately pressed the “rebuild button” by making a trade for a prospect and draft pick.
Moreover, this is not the first time Kiwoom fans have experienced such a situation. Unlike other teams that have a solid parent organization behind them, Kiwoom is a team with clear financial limitations that have to worry about running the club right now.
As a result, it’s difficult to spend a lot of money on outside reinforcements, and it’s not easy to keep the team’s biggest stars. A prime example of this is the loss of Park Byung-ho, one of the league’s leading big hitters, two years ago.
There have been numerous instances of top players being traded early, before they become free agents, to receive prospects and cash. Last season’s Park Dong-won and this season’s Choi Won-tae did just that.
Of course, the team is excellent at developing prospects. Kang Jeong-ho, Park Byung-ho, and Kim Ha-sung exploded their potential and made it to the major leagues, while Lee Jung-hoo and Ahn Woo-jin have already reached the top of the league and have plenty of potential to go overseas.
The problem is that this leaves the team without a “signature star” to represent them. It’s hard to retain existing fans when the team hasn’t built up a strong fan base in its short history, and its signature star can easily leave the team.
For those that remain, it’s frustrating to watch the same thing happen year after year. Instead of trying to win a championship, the postseason is the best-case scenario, and if that doesn’t happen, there’s always the anxiety of losing another starter at any time.
Kiwoom surprised everyone by investing heavily in the team before this season. They certainly looked different after their Korean Series runner-up finish.
However, it didn’t take long for them to return to their old form, and there’s no telling when Kiwoom will “decide” again next season and beyond, 스포츠토토 when even Lee Jung-hoo will be gone.