“I’ve signed a lot of contracts, but my hands and heart trembled as I signed them.”
In fact, Kim Min-sung, an all-purpose utility infielder who recently found his third team through a sign-and-trade between the LG Twins and the Lotte Giants, had no idea that he would be able to find such a new job. Since he became an FA after the end of the season, he first considered staying at LG and welcomed the Stove League. It is true that he considered signing-and-trade for a while, but he was carefully reviewing LG’s proposal again, judging that it would be difficult in reality.월카지노
However, things have changed since Lotte took aggressive actions again. The two teams signed on Wednesday morning a sign-and-trade agreement. Kim Min-sung signed with LG for up to 900 million won (2+1 years), and will wear the Lotte uniform in a one-on-one trade with Kim Min-soo.
In a farewell video posted on the LG Twins YouTube channel after the transfer was confirmed, Kim Min-sung said, “I wanted to say hello with good news, but I came to say hello with a little heavy news. It took a long time during the contract process, but (negotiations) took a long time as I talked well with the LG Twins and the general manager and discussed my future baseball life. I think many people will be disappointed that the conclusion came out differently from what they thought.”
“It was a very difficult decision. How I sign this contract determines the end of my career, and I was able to make a good decision personally because the team and the general manager waited for me,” he said. “I have signed many contracts, but my hands and my heart were shaking as I signed them.” Kim Min-sung’s words and facial expressions clearly showed how he felt about staying at LG but had no choice but to transfer.
Opportunity and future. That was why Kim Min-sung joined Lotte’s hands after much thought. “First of all, he needed me at Lotte on good terms. I’m grateful for both teams. Rather than talking about the amount, I was in different positions as a player at LG and Lotte. At Lotte, I had more opportunities to play and I decided that it was conditions to burn the end of my career for sure,” Kim said after the sign-and-trade agreement ended on Wednesday.
Kim Min-sung was also the all-around key to the infielders in LG. LG failed to address the issue of second baseman, which seemed like an “exile disease,” until early last year. The concern over third baseman, which arose from the enlistment of Yang Seok-hwan (Doosan Bears), was overcome by recruiting Kim Min-sung and the growth of Moon Bo-kyung, but the second baseman failed to find a solution. The highly anticipated trade recruitment of Seo Kun-chang was decided as a failure. Then, the player that coaches looked upon was Kim Min-sung. Testing for Kim Min-sung’s return to second base began through former coach Ryu Ji-hyun in 2022, and Yeom Kyung-yeop embodied it in 2023. Kim’s value has revived.
However, LG was overflowing with multi-position infielders. Son Ho-young is already there, and Koo Bon-hyuk, who was discharged from Sangmu, and Lee Young-bin, who will be discharged from military service during the season, are also waiting for the opportunity to play. On the other hand, Lotte’s second baseman has emerged as a concern as An Chi-hong chose to transfer to the Hanwha Eagles as a free agent. While keeping fostering internal resources as an option, it recruited second baseman resources called Oh Sun-jin and Choi Hang as the second draft, but it still thirsty for Debs. In addition, as Han Dong-hee applied to Sangmu, the third baseman also became a concern. This concern led to recruitment of Kim Min-sung.
“My main position was not second base, but I started experience as second baseman under coach Ryu Ji-hyun two years ago, and I played second base a lot last year. I think my two-year experience as second baseman is definitely helpful. I have to compete with good players, but I am confident,” Kim said. “I will prove that I am competitive in any position.
Opportunity guarantees were basic. Lotte’s proposal was better conditions than LG’s, and furthermore, LG decided to meet the conditions for training the leader after the contract was terminated. The training of the leader is one of the conditions that Kim Min-sung considered important. In other words, there was no reason for Kim Min-sung to refuse.
LG also accepted Kim’s plan to train as a leader. During the negotiation process, the team gave positive assessment to Kim’s leadership, calling him a “next leader.” However, it was difficult to come up with conditions as favorable as Lotte due to overlapping positions and imminent ceiling of salary cap. Instead, the team brought in infielder Kim Min-soo, who can play a role similar to that of Kim Min-sung, in a sign-and-trade deal with Lotte, to minimize power vacuum.
LG introduced Kim Min-soo as a former youth representative and completed military service at the National Police Agency, and as an infielder with great strength in hitting, he was judged to be a promising player with excellent handling and compliance throwing ability.”