Will Jung Chan-heon (former Kiwoom), who has not signed a free agent contract, be able to find a new team? Kiwoom opened the way for Jeong Chan-heon through autographs and trades, and recently eased the burden of transfer fees.
I asked Go Hyeong-wook, the head of Kiwoom Kiwoom, about the situation of Jeong Chan-heon, whom I met at spring camp in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. Along with Kang Ri-ho (former Lotte), Kwon Hee-dong, and Lee Myung-gi (former NC Lee), Jeong Chan-heon is a missing free agent.
Ahead of the free agency application after the season, general manager Ko Hyeong-wook said he met with Jeong Chan-heon. Director Koh said, “Maybe the (FA) market is not good enough. If we do not declare free agency, we will sign a contract with (Jeong) Chan-heon, and if we declare free agency, we clearly said that we have no intention of catching him.”
Do you stay with Kiwoom and renew the contract, or declare free agency and go to the market? Jeong Chan-heon declared free agency instead of staying at Kiwoom. However, the year has changed and spring camp has begun, but there is still no news of the contract.
If so, can Kiwoom hold him on a one-year contract, as he did when he did not apply for free agency? Director Go said, “No. Completely different from the heart. We talked about (two options), and he made his own choice and declared free agency. He explained, “I thought about whether I would be able to correct my mind if I returned to our team after applying for free agency and the contract was not signed.”
Then, “(Jung Chan-heon) will definitely be disappointed, and there will be regrets, but… (I can’t help it)” he said.
The moment Jeong Chan-heon applied for FA, the bridge back to Kiwoom was cut off. Coach Hong Won-ki said that a big task was to find resources for the 4th and 5th starting pitchers following two foreign pitchers (Yokishi and Hurado) and ace Ahn Woo-jin in the spring camp. Choi Won-tae, Lee Seung-ho, Jang Jae-young, and Lim Im-jong were mentioned. If Chan-Heon Jeong is present, he will help the team in the 5th starting spot. Even so, Kiwoom doesn’t even look at Jeong Chanheon. 카지노사이트
However, the Kiwoom club does not intend to block Jeong Chan-heon’s path. Jeong Chan-heon is a B grade where there are compensation players other than 25 players. Kiwoom has recently changed its policy of signing and trading without compensation players, and is trying to accommodate Jeong Chan-heon as much as possible.
Head coach Koh said, “I had a phone call with Jeong Chan-heon until recently, and he said that he had a call from Team A and asked if he could cut the transfer fee a little, so he readily agreed (he did). However, it seems to be in a state where the story does not go well,” he said.
Jeong Chan-heon asked the Kiwoom club to lower the transfer fee to some extent in order to ease the burden of the transfer fee. However, there are differences of opinion in the negotiation process. It seems to take time.
Meanwhile, ahead of the 2019 season, Kiwoom signed and traded free agency infielder Kim Min-seong for a three-year, up to 1.8 billion won contract and received a transfer fee of 500 million won from LG.