Five people in the last year of the contract...Who will survive
Five people in the last year of the contract...Who will survive
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Professional baseball managers are also in a position to play "survival games." The fate of the five coaches, or half of the entire KBO League, will be determined by their performance.안전놀이터
Only five of the 10 KBO League managers who will face 2025 are guaranteed terms in 2026. KIA Tigers coach Lee Bum-ho, who re-signed for three years and 2.6 billion won after winning the integrated championship in 2024, and new NC Dinos coach Lee Ho-joon, who signed for three years and 1.4 billion won at the end of last year, have the longest remaining contract period.
Chances are high that coaches who have two years left in their term will also be re-signed for two years. KT Wiz coach Lee Kang-chul renewed his contract for three years and 2.4 billion won (2.42 million U.S. dollars) after he became the runner-up at the Korea Series in 2023. He has advanced to the postseason for five consecutive years, including his first win (2021) and the first wild card game in history (2024). Lotte Giants coach Kim Tae-hyung, who was appointed last year on a three-year contract, and Hanwha Eagles coach Kim Kyung-moon, who was appointed on a three-year contract during this season, also have strong positions.
The other five players all have their last year as Samsung Lions manager. Samsung Lions manager Park Jin-man has made achievements. He led the team to the KS for the first time in nine years last year. He also discovered a large number of young players and strengthened defense, his specialty of the team. Given his poor performance (8th) in the first year after taking office, Samsung has more to prove this year. Samsung had to voluntarily resign when its coach Huh Sam-young, who tied for the first and final third place in the 2021 regular season, fell to the ninth place (as of July).
LG Twins manager Yeom Kyung-yeop gave his team its first combined championship in 29 years in 2023. Despite the loss of power in 2024, the team ranked third in the regular season. However, expectations are high for the team to renew the contract. Based on the regular season, LG has consistently ranked fourth or higher since 2019 and third or higher since 2021. Former LG manager Ryu Ji-hyun ranked second in the regular season in 2022, but failed to renew the contract after losing an upset loss in the playoffs. LG also recruited Jang Hyun-sik (up to 5.2 billion won for four years) and Kim Kang-ryul (up to 1.4 billion won for two plus one year) ahead of the 2025 season. Expectations for Yeom are also high that he is ranking second or higher.
Lee Seung-yeop, manager of the Doosan Bears, is in some jeopardy. Having taken the helm of Doosan in 2022 without any experience as a leader, Lee has advanced to fall baseball for two consecutive years by ranking fifth in his first year and fourth last year. However, he has received strong criticism from fans over his management of the bullpen and batters. In the wild card game, he became the first team to lose among the teams ranking fourth, and was greeted with loud cheers from fans. In the previous two years, he signed contracts with FA players including Yang Eui-ji (up to 15.2 billion won during the four+2 years), Yang Seok-hwan (up to 7.8 billion won during the four+2 years), and Hong Geon-hee (up to 2.45 billion won during the two+2 years), but he missed out on Heo Kyung-min (KT) and Kim Kang-ryul this year. He has a gap in his capacity, with Kim Jae-ho retiring.
Lee Sung-yong, manager of SSG Landers, who was under fire from fans before Lee Seung-yeop, also signed his contract this year. SSG appointed Lee after replacing Kim Won-hyung, who won the title overall over the past two years and ranked third. Park Ji-hwan, Jung Joon-jae, and Cho Byung-hyun were discovered by emphasizing retooling (a method in which players change generations without giving up their current performance), but failed to participate in baseball in the fall due to loss of the tiebreaker.
Kiwoom Heroes coach Hong Won-ki has the most uncertain future outlook. He re-signed for three years after being the runner-up at KS in 2022, and has fallen to the bottom of the list for the past two consecutive years. There were many negative factors such as Lee Jung-hoo's injury, Major League Baseball (MLB), Ahn Woo-jin's injury, military service and Choi Won-tae's trade. Ahead of 2025, closer Cho Sang-woo was traded to the KIA Tigers. Kim Hye-sung is likely to advance to MLB.