Two years and nine months ago, Yang Seok-hwan (32) and Ham Deok-ju (28) were the stars of the big deal that heated up the KBO league. In March 2021, LG’s general manager Cha Myung-seok offered Doosan Bears a first baseman and proposed a trade that demanded Ham as a benefit in return, and the two teams completed the final two-on-two trade by adding younger pitchers such as Chae Ji-sun and Nam-ho to the exchange. The two players left their respective teams and wore uniforms of rival teams.
Up until last year, the prevailing view was that the trade was a loss to LG. Ham Deok-joo, who once made 27 saves for Doosan as the closing pitcher of the dynasty, suffered from injury after moving to the team. Due to elbow injury, he finished his first season with 16 games (21 innings) with one win, two losses and a hold ERA of 4.29, and underwent surgery to remove bone fragments from his elbow after the season ended.
The 2022 season also saw little reversal. With a 2.13 ERA in 13 games (12 ⅔ innings), he went down to the secondary league in early May to prepare for starting, before taking a four-month break due to minor injuries. He took the mound in the Futures League in mid-September, but failed to return to the primary league and finished the season in the secondary league.
After the third season since the trade, Ham has shown off his revival wings. In 57 games, he pitched four wins and four saves, 16 holds, and an ERA of 1.62 while recording 27 saves in the two-point range. His good pitching in May, 0.71 in June, and 0.90 in August helped LG to become No. 1 in the regular season.
Due to a recurrence of a left elbow injury, Ham ended the regular season early at the end of the game against NC on August 26, but he recovered his condition after rehabilitation and became the first LG champion in 29 years with a win and no loss in four Korean Series matches. During his time at Doosan, he grabbed his fourth individual championship ring after 2015, 2016 and 2019. He raised his stock price well before the FA negotiations.
Yang Seok-hwan, who has lost ground since his discharge from Sangmu, also saw his transfer to the Doosan Bears as a godsend. He hit a .273 batting average, 28 homers and 96 RBIs in 133 games in the 2021 season, erasing his team’s concerns as a first baseman and contributing to his team’s advance to the Korean Series for the first seven consecutive years in the KBO League. He played the Bears’ fifth and first baseman, and was reborn as a so-called “trade lucky” from the first season.
Unlike the first year, last year was a series of disappointments. A chronic intraperitoneal muscle injury recurred from the beginning of the season, and he suffered aftereffects even after his return to work in May, finishing the season with a poor record of 107 games with 20 homers and 51 RBIs. Doosan, whose main players including Yang Seok-hwan, Kim Jae-hwan, and Jung Soo-bin also suffered slumps, suffered its first humiliation in ninth place.
Yang’s 2023 spring camp was more serious than ever. The most important part was prevention of injury. He strengthened muscle flexibility and strengthened his core through Pilates in order to train his intraperitoneal muscles. Afterwards, he met with manager Lee Seung-yeop, who has garnered the most home runs in the KBO League, and upgraded his skills by asking for advice on how to push and how to play.
As a result, Yang replaced Kim Jae-hwan, who has shown poor performance this year, as Doosan’s home run hitter. He showed off his destructive power with a batting average of 281 with 21 homers and 89 RBIs in 140 games, ranking fifth in the home run category. As a right-handed slugger who hit 20 home runs (28-20-21) for the third consecutive year, he received keen attention from the FA market.
In the end, both players ended up signing FA contracts. Yang Seok-hwan, dubbed the biggest fish in the FA market, signed an FA contract with his original team Doosan for a maximum of 7.8 billion won (6.37 million U.S. dollars) for 4+2 years on April 30. The total amount of his first four-year contract is up to 6.5 billion won (2.5 million dollars in down payment, 3.9 billion won in annual salary, and 600 million won in incentives), which includes a two-year mutual option of 1.3 billion won (1.5 million dollars), which is triggered by agreement between the club and the players after the end of the four-year contract. 실시간 바카라사이트
Time has passed and news of Ham’s contract has also been reported just one day before Christmas. He signed a four-year FA contract with his original team LG on Monday for a total of 3.8 billion won (3.8 million U.S. dollars). He signed the contract on a down payment of 600 million won (637 million dollars), an annual salary of 1.4 billion won (1.5 million dollars), and incentives of 1.8 billion won (1.5 million dollars).
After finishing the contract, Ham Deok-ju said, “I feel lighthearted because I was able to finish the contract before the end of the year. The team had the best performance this season, and I am happy that I was able to help the team a little by throwing it without any injuries. I felt happy that I could throw it healthily once again. I will do my best to help the team continue to be a strong team by not getting sick.”
