KIA, which aims to make a leap forward in the 2024 season, is steadily strengthening its capacity and capacity. By recruiting a foreign fireballer, the team has stepped up preparation for the season. The Kia Tigers officially announced on Tuesday that it has recruited Will Crow, a new foreign pitcher who has experience playing full time as a starting pitcher in the U.S. Major League, for a total of 1 million dollars. Kia, which previously signed a contract with Socrates for a total of 1.2 million dollars, has even recruited Crow, leaving only one new foreign pitcher to recruit. 토토
Will Crowe was drafted by the Washington Nationals with the 65th pick in the second round of the 2017 Rookie Draft. Kia fans have high expectations for Crowe, who brought the team full of 1 million U.S. dollars. Crowe is a right-handed pitcher who is 185 centimeters tall and weighs 108 kilograms. He played in four seasons in the Major League and five seasons in the Minor League (hereinafter referred to as Triple-A). He played in 94 games (29 starts) in the big league, recording 10 wins, 21 losses, 16 holds, five saves and an ERA of 5.30. The maximum speed of his ball speed is 153 kilometers.
KIA’s move in this offseason is remarkable. Shim Jae-hak, Kia’s general manager, is drawing attention as he is playing harder in the stove league than anyone else. In fact, Kia has already aggressively recruited players since the 2022 season with the aim of advancing to the post season. The signal was Na Sung-bum. Ahead of the 2022 season, Kia has signed Na Sung-bum, who was able to establish itself as a franchise star with the NC Dinos, for a six-year contract period of 6 billion won, 6 billion won in down payment, 6 billion won in annual salary, and 3 billion won in option, reinforcing its outfield and slugging capabilities at the same time. However, Kia had to accept its unsatisfactory report card in the 2022 season as well. Although it successfully advanced to the postseason for the first time in four years by finishing the regular season in fifth place, it played only one game. At that time, it bowed its head after losing 2-6 in the first round of the wild card match against the KT Wiz.
The 2023 season is finally here. The 2023 season, however, was not easy either. With LG, SSG, and Lotte in the top three teams early in the season, KIA could hardly afford to enter the league. In May, when the season was in full swing, former general manager Jang Jung-seok left the team due to unkind reasons, and a new general manager Shim Jae-hak was appointed. By the end of June, the team had ranked as low as 9th out of the 10 teams. The injuries suffered by key players such as Kim Sun-bin and Jung Hae-young. In the end, KIA failed to advance to the post season ranking sixth with 73 wins, 2 draws, and 69 losses, marking a 0.514 win rate.
More than anything else, Kia’s home turf was largely empty. The team largely failed to recruit FA Park Dong-won and sent him to LG ahead of the 2023 season. From the beginning of the 2023 season, Kia Tigers wore catcher masks as Han Seung-taek (29), Joo Hyo-sang (26), and Shin Beom-soo (25) rotated, but failed to secure the starting player position. Kia manager Kim Jong-kook also said during the season, “It would be difficult to pick a catcher for sure. Currently, the catcher who frequently participates in many games is the starting player.” Still, the team’s head coach displayed faith in the team. However, the home turf issue was hardly resolved, and Shim Jae-hak, the team’s general manager, took direct action. The result was to recruit catcher Kim Tae-gun through a trade. At the time, Kia carried out a 1:1 trade in which it received catcher Kim Tae-gun instead of sending infielder Ryu Ji-hyuk to Samsung.
Having recorded a batting average of 0.256 with one home run, 18 RBIs and seven runs batted in with a slugging percentage of 0.328 and an on-base percentage of 0.329 in 49 games before the trade, Kim immediately became the starting player after moving to Kia. As a veteran catcher, he led younger players and took charge of Kia’s home turf. Although Kia was eliminated from the postseason, it ended the year with a batting average of 0.257 (78 hits in 303 times at bat), one home run, 40 RBIs, 15 walks, and 29 strikeouts with a slugging percentage of 0.300, an on-base percentage of 0.306 and an OPS of 0.606. Furthermore, Kia successfully signed a multi-year contract with Kim last year. Kia officially announced in October last year that it signed a three-year contract worth a total of 2.5 billion won, including 2 billion won in annual salary and option of 500 million won. Having graduated from Yangjeong Elementary School, Daedong Middle School and Busan High School, he was not a stellar mainstay in the professional arena in recent years. However, he has always attracted attention from other teams as a “mainstream” backup catcher. Above all, he has a reputation as a defensive catcher. As he played with national team catchers such as Yang Eui-ji (Doosan Bears) and Kang Min-ho (Samsung Lions), it is true that he had fewer chances to play. Nevertheless, Kim Tae-gun was crushed by other teams because they needed his value. And he was recognized for his true worth by KIA.
This was effectively a signal. During other people’s baseball feast days, KIA focused on strengthening its power. The next first goal was to sit with FA inside. First, Ko Jong-wook signed with KIA. In November last year, Kia announced that it signed a two-year contract worth 100 million won, down payment of 100 million won, annual salary of 150 million won, and option of 100 million won. It is the third FA contract in the Stove League following Lotte’s Jeon Joon-woo and Hanwha’s An Chi-hong. After starting his professional career with Nexen Heroes (currently Kiwoom Heroes), Ko was released by the SSG Landers at the end of 2021. He then joined KIA as a substitute or pinch runner during the 2022 season, and posted a batting average of 0.283, two homers and 14 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.752 in 62 games. After the end of the 2022 season, Ko became a free agent but did not exercise his rights and chose to repeat his contract. This was a godsend. During the 2023 season, Ko Jong-wook appeared in 114 games recording a batting average of 0.296, three homers and 39 RBIs, and a batting average of 0.346, showing his progress. Eventually, Ko was able to successfully sign an FA contract with KIA. Through the club, he said, “I would like to thank the KIA team and the manager for giving me the opportunity once again. I got the opportunity to be an FA, but I finished the contract quickly because I wanted to stay in KIA, not other teams,” and expressed my feelings, saying, “I will become a player who can repay the support of Tigers fans with good performances.” “We highly appreciate the performance of Ko Jong-wook, who has played a big role in the team’s batting line-up over the past two years, and we have signed this contract,” a KIA official said. “We expect it to be a great help to the team’s strength in the future.”
This was not the end. In the new year, KIA’s moves began to accelerate. Recently, he succeeded in signing a seal with internal FA Kim Sun-bin, who was wondering if negotiations were slow. KIA said on the 4th that it signed a three-year contract with Kim Sun-bin for a total of 3 billion won, including a down payment of 600 million won, an annual salary of 1.8 billion won, and an option of 600 million won. After the contract, Kim Sun-bin said through the club, “More than anything else, I wanted to stay in KIA. I am grateful to the club for offering me good conditions, and I am happy to continue to hear the support of Tigers fans,” adding, “I will devote myself to sports before the season and help the team to become a consistent strong team. Although I have given up my captaincy, I will do my best to help the team stand at the top of fall baseball with a sense of responsibility as an old player.” KIA general manager Shim Jae-hak said, “Kim Sun-bin is an essential player for the team. As a franchise player who has consistently played for the Tigers as a one-club man, I negotiated with the idea that I should catch him no matter what. Since his skills are already proven, I expect him to greatly contribute to the team’s strength if he continues to do as he is now.”
His negotiations with Kim did not necessarily go smoothly, which made a all the more significant impact on Kia fans. Kim, who graduated from Hwasun Elementary School, Hwasun Middle School and Hwasun High School, joined Kia in 2008 with the 43rd pick in the second round of the sixth round of the rookie draft. It is not an exaggeration to say that Kim is Kia’s proud franchise star. In total, he posted a batting average of 0.303 (1506 hits in 4,968 times at bat), 32 homers, 564 RBIs, 691 runs and 149 steals, and an OPS of 0.750 in 1509 games at Kia. In addition, he posted a batting average of 0.370 (176 hits in 476 times at bat) in the 2017 season, leading the team’s batting champion and KIA to win the Korean Series. He has displayed outstanding leadership by leading players as captain of the team over the past two years. However, along with the need for a generational change in the team, the passage of time was one of the factors that cannot be ignored. As such, negotiations have been slow and the year has passed. Shim Jae-hak, the team’s general manager, always called Kim “an essential player for the team.” After signing the contract, Shim Jae-hak told Star News, “In order for KIA to have good performance this season, we judged that other players need to grow up and grow up in a situation where Kim Sun-bin is playing as the main second baseman. Therefore, although the player may be disappointed with the amount of money, he tried to approach the team with his heart as much as possible. “I was not a one-club man when I was an active player. As I played for so many teams, I felt that (rather) the fact that a player remains a one-club man means a lot to me. I am happy to let such a one-club man (Kim Sun-bin) play in the Kia Tigers’ uniform without sending him to other teams. I feel a little less sorry for (the slowness of various contracts this winter),” he said.
Following the signing of Kim Sun-bin, another surprising news came the next day: a multi-year contract with Choi Hyung-woo, a 41-year-old veteran. On Monday, Kia and Choi signed a multi-year contract worth a total of 2.2 billion won (2.42 million U.S. dollars), with one plus one year plus one year plus an option of 200 million won (2,240 dollars). According to the team’s announcement, the contract will be automatically extended if the 2024 option is met. Choi previously signed two FA contracts with Kia (four years with 10 billion won in 2016 and four years with 4.7 billion won in 2020). During the seven years he played for Kia, he was always responsible for team attacks in the central lineup. Notably, in the 2023 season, he played in 121 games, recording a batting average of 0.302, 17 homers, 81 RBIs, 64 runs and 130 hits, displaying his strong performance despite his challenging age. He garnered applause from many Kia fans as he set the record for the most RBIs and doubles ever recorded in total. After the 2023 season ended, Kia gave a multi-year contract despite his advanced age of 41, instilling strong faith in the team.
What followed was a foreigner’s turn. Again, it wasn’t easy. In fact, Kia has not produced significant performance by foreign pitchers in recent years. It started the 2023 season with Sean Anderson and Adonis Medina, but neither of them produced significant performance. In 14 games, Sean Anderson had four wins, seven losses, 64 strikeouts, 26 walks, an ERA of 3.76, and quality start (less than three earned runs in six innings) in 79 innings. In addition, Adonis Medina had two wins, six losses, 36 strikeouts, 29 walks and an ERA of 6.05 during 58 innings in 12 games, and pitched only three quality starts. In the end, Kia recruited a new player after breaking up with both of them even before the first half of the 2023 season. The main characters were Thomas Panoni and Mario Sanchez. Panoni had six wins, three losses, 4.26 ERA, and 66 strikeouts and 23 walks in 82 ⅓ innings. He then had five successful quality starts. Mario Sanchez had four wins, four losses, 5.94 ERA, and 59 strikeouts and 16 walks in 63 ⅔ innings in 12 games. He made three quality start pitches.
Mario Sanchez might have difficulty renewing his contract due to his performance, but any pitcher as good as Panoni might try to do so. In the end, however, Kia chose to break up with both of them. Furthermore, news recently spread that Panoni signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs. Panoni entered the KBO League as a substitute foreign pitcher for Ronnie Williams in July 2022, and had a good record of 3-4 losses and 2.72 ERA in 14 games. However, he left Korea before the 2023 season because he was not chosen by KIA. However, when newly recruited Sean Anderson and Adonis Medina were sluggish, Panoni was called back and threw the ball, leaving KIA again at the end of the 2023 season.
After his debut, Crowe stepped up to the top stage. In the 2018 season, Crowe made double-A appearance. He started 21 games out of 22 games that year, recording 11 wins and 5 losses with a 3.40 ERA. During 116 ⅓ innings, he recorded 104 hits, 57 runs, 44 earned, 10 homers, five hits, 48 walks, 94 strikeouts, a batting average of 0.240 and WHIP 1.31. In addition to Double-A, he made 26 starts in Triple-A games, 7 wins, 10 losses, 4.70 ERA, and scored 151 hits, 86 runs, 78 earned runs, 15 homers, and three hits, 48 walks, 130 strikeouts, and a WHIP 1.33 WHIP. He showed off his ability to digest many innings and strikeouts.
Crow began to make his name known by earnestly stepping on the Major League Baseball stage in the 2020 season. He made his big league debut as a member of the Washington Nationals in 2020. He lost two games and posted an earned run average (ERA) of 11.88 without a win that year. During a total of eight ⅓ innings, he allowed 14 hits and 13 runs (11 earned runs), five homers and one homer, and posted a batting average of 0.378 with eight walks, and a WHIP (base-plus-slugging percentage) of 2.64. The 2021 season was the best year for him. Since then, he started in earnest in the Major League and played a key role in his former team’s starting rotation for the Pittsburgh Pirates. During the 2021 season, Crow had four wins and eight losses with a 5.48 ERA. He started 25 out of 26 games. During a total of 116 ⅔ innings, he allowed 126 hits and 75 earned runs, 71 earned runs, 25 earned runs, six hit-by-body balls, 57 walks, 111 strikeouts and a batting average of 0.276, and WHIP 1.57.
Crow continued to play in the big leagues through the 2022 season. However, he changed his position to a relief pitcher. He accepted the report card with 6 wins, 10 losses, 4 saves, 16 holds, and an ERA of 4.38. He played in a total of 60 games, and all but one start was made in relief. He allowed 68 hits, 40 runs, eight homers, and three homers during 76 innings, 38 walks, 68 strikeouts, 0.235 WHIP. Then, in the 2023 season, he played only five games without a single start, and lost one loss, one save, and 4.66 ERA without a win. During nine ⅔ innings, he allowed nine hits, six runs (five earned), one homer, and one homerun, and posted a WHIP of 0.243 WHIP 1.56 in detail. In 2023, he spent more time in the Minor League. Last year, he played in 17 games (three starts) in the Minor League, recording a 3.86 ERA in three wins, one loss, one hold, and 15 runs in 30 ⅓ innings, three homers, 14 walks, 32 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 0.279. His overall minor league performance was 21 wins, 16 losses, 1 hold, an ERA of 4.01. He started 59 games out of 75 ⅓, giving up 310 hits, 166 runs (143 earned runs), 31 homers, and 9 hits, 114 walks, 274 strikeouts, a batting average of 0.255, and a WHIP of 1.32.
“Will Crow is a right-handed pitcher with outstanding ball power,” said Shim Jae-hak, the general manager who led the recruitment of Crow. “He is a powerful player with a fast ball, slider and change-up with a maximum speed of 153 kilometers. He also said, “As he was a full-time starter in the Major League, he is expected to play a key role in the team’s selection team due to his extensive experience.”
Prior to the announcement of the Crow, Kia signed a contract with foreign hitter Socrates. As a foreign hitter who has already been verified by his team, there was no reason to hesitate. The deal was worth a total of 1.2 million dollars, including a down payment of 300,000 won, an annual salary of 500,000 won, and an option of 400,000 dollars. Socrates joined the KIA Tigers prior to the 2022 season, when he recorded a total of 900,000 dollars. He then played until the 2024 season following the 2023 season, and became a foreigner in his third year of the KBO league. Socrates recorded a batting average of 0.311 (160 hits in 514 times at bat), 17 homers, 77 RBIs, 12 steals, and an OPS of 0.848 in 127 games during the 2022 season. He then recorded a batting average of 0.285 last year, 20 homers, 96 RBIs, 91 runs and 15 steals, and an OPS of 0.807 while playing 142 games. Despite the continuous rise of key hitters such as Na Sung-bum, Choi Hyung-woo and Park Chan-ho during the 2023 season, he also set an example by playing 142 games, two games short of all games. The team’s No. 1 player in hits, home runs, runs scored and RBIs was also up to Socrates. Prior to the signing of the contract, Shim Jae-hak, Kia’s general manager, said, “Socrates will decide as he is. The process of renewing the contract is smooth.” Although there were some regrets, such as showing weakness in left-handed pitchers this year and a slight drop in the batting average for scoring, it was judged that it was not easy to bring a batter over Socrates in the KBO League. The prevailing opinion was that we should continue to keep Socrates stable rather than taking new risks such as adapting to a new player,” he said, explaining the background of the renewal.
Now, if Kia hires an additional foreign pitcher, it will complete the formation of foreign players for the 2024 season. As soon as Kia was confirmed to be eliminated from the postseason last year, it immediately started preparing for the 2024 season and is steadily strengthening its power. KIA is classified as the so-called “three strongest teams” in the baseball world along with the LG Twins and KT Wiz in the 2024 season. After the New Year’s greeting ceremony at Jamsil Stadium on the 5th, LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop met with reporters and pointed out the KT Wiz and KIA Tigers as the most threatening teams in the 2024 season.
Analysts say that Kia will not lag behind other teams in the selection race, provided it selects two foreign pitchers well. It certainly has the upper hand in the competition for starting pitchers from home. This is because Yang Hyeon-jong, a “left-handed veteran” who represents Korea as the third starter, is holding out. He recorded nine wins and 11 losses and an ERA of 3.58 in 29 games last season. During a total of 171 innings, he had 181 hits, 13 homers, 48 walks, 133 strikeouts, 78 runs (68 earned) with WHIP 1.34, a hit rate of 0.272, and quality start pitching 14 times. However, he cannot leave the burden on veteran Yang Hyeon-jong. Young pitchers such as Lee Ui-ri and Yoon Young-cheol have to do their part. Lee has gained immense experience by joining the KIA Tigers as the first designation in 2021 and throwing balls at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that year. In his first year since his debut, he garnered four wins and five losses, 3.61 ERA, and 93 strikeouts during 94 ⅔ innings, becoming the only rookie of the year in the KBO League. In addition, Yoon Young-cheol, a rookie of the year in 2023, was impressive as he recorded 8-7 losses and 4.40 ERA in 25 games last year. Choi, who competed with Moon Dong-joo of the Hanwha Eagles in the Rookie of the Year competition, failed to win the honor, but his performance was certain to be valuable to him. In addition, Choi Ji-min, who joined KIA in the second round and first round in 2022, has also improved a lot. After winning the gold medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, he pitched in 58 games and completed his mission by striking out 44 times during 6 wins, 3 losses, 12 holds, 3 saves with a 2.12 ERA and 59 ⅓ innings. The Kia Tigers are not only cracking down on internal FA players but also carefully recruiting foreign players. Expectations are already high on Kia fans to see how it will perform in the 2024 season.
“Will Crow is a right-handed pitcher with outstanding ball power,” said Shim Jae-hak, the general manager who led the recruitment of Crow. “He is a powerful player with a fast ball, slider and change-up with a maximum speed of 153 kilometers. He also said, “As he was a full-time starter in the Major League, he is expected to play a key role in the team’s selection team due to his extensive experience.”
Prior to the announcement of the Crow, Kia signed a contract with foreign hitter Socrates. As a foreign hitter who has already been verified by his team, there was no reason to hesitate. The deal was worth a total of 1.2 million dollars, including a down payment of 300,000 won, an annual salary of 500,000 won, and an option of 400,000 dollars. Socrates joined the KIA Tigers prior to the 2022 season, when he recorded a total of 900,000 dollars. He then played until the 2024 season following the 2023 season, and became a foreigner in his third year of the KBO league. Socrates recorded a batting average of 0.311 (160 hits in 514 times at bat), 17 homers, 77 RBIs, 12 steals, and an OPS of 0.848 in 127 games during the 2022 season. He then recorded a batting average of 0.285 last year, 20 homers, 96 RBIs, 91 runs and 15 steals, and an OPS of 0.807 while playing 142 games. Despite the continuous rise of key hitters such as Na Sung-bum, Choi Hyung-woo and Park Chan-ho during the 2023 season, he also set an example by playing 142 games, two games short of all games. The team’s No. 1 player in hits, home runs, runs scored and RBIs was also up to Socrates. Prior to the signing of the contract, Shim Jae-hak, Kia’s general manager, said, “Socrates will decide as he is. The process of renewing the contract is smooth.” Although there were some regrets, such as showing weakness in left-handed pitchers this year and a slight drop in the batting average for scoring, it was judged that it was not easy to bring a batter over Socrates in the KBO League. The prevailing opinion was that we should continue to keep Socrates stable rather than taking new risks such as adapting to a new player,” he said, explaining the background of the renewal.
Now, if Kia hires an additional foreign pitcher, it will complete the formation of foreign players for the 2024 season. As soon as Kia was confirmed to be eliminated from the postseason last year, it immediately started preparing for the 2024 season and is steadily strengthening its power. KIA is classified as the so-called “three strongest teams” in the baseball world along with the LG Twins and KT Wiz in the 2024 season. After the New Year’s greeting ceremony at Jamsil Stadium on the 5th, LG manager Yeom Kyung-yeop met with reporters and pointed out the KT Wiz and KIA Tigers as the most threatening teams in the 2024 season.
Analysts say that Kia will not lag behind other teams in the selection race, provided it selects two foreign pitchers well. It certainly has the upper hand in the competition for starting pitchers from home. This is because Yang Hyeon-jong, a “left-handed veteran” who represents Korea as the third starter, is holding out. He recorded nine wins and 11 losses and an ERA of 3.58 in 29 games last season. During a total of 171 innings, he had 181 hits, 13 homers, 48 walks, 133 strikeouts, 78 runs (68 earned) with WHIP 1.34, a hit rate of 0.272, and quality start pitching 14 times. However, he cannot leave the burden on veteran Yang Hyeon-jong. Young pitchers such as Lee Ui-ri and Yoon Young-cheol have to do their part. Lee has gained immense experience by joining the KIA Tigers as the first designation in 2021 and throwing balls at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that year. In his first year since his debut, he garnered four wins and five losses, 3.61 ERA, and 93 strikeouts during 94 ⅔ innings, becoming the only rookie of the year in the KBO League. In addition, Yoon Young-cheol, a rookie of the year in 2023, was impressive as he recorded 8-7 losses and 4.40 ERA in 25 games last year. Choi, who competed with Moon Dong-joo of the Hanwha Eagles in the Rookie of the Year competition, failed to win the honor, but his performance was certain to be valuable to him. In addition, Choi Ji-min, who joined KIA in the second round and first round in 2022, has also improved a lot. After winning the gold medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, he pitched in 58 games and completed his mission by striking out 44 times during 6 wins, 3 losses, 12 holds, 3 saves with a 2.12 ERA and 59 ⅓ innings. The Kia Tigers are not only cracking down on internal FA players but also carefully recruiting foreign players. Expectations are already high on Kia fans to see how it will perform in the 2024 season.