Something hard to imagine in Hanwha... Backups hit the jackpot and Ha Joo-seok failed the camp. Will there be another twist
Something hard to imagine in Hanwha... Backups hit the jackpot and Ha Joo-seok failed the camp. Will there be another twist
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Ha Joo-seok (31) of Hanwha Eagles has long been anticipated as Hanwha's main shortstop and played such a role. Although he did not meet the enormous expectations when he joined the team, he managed to meet the standard if he lowered his expectations as the main shortstop of at least one team.
This is also evidenced by the annual salary. After Ha entered the company's first annual salary of 120 million won (120 million won) in 2018, he maintained the title of "annual salary of 100 million won" for six consecutive years until 2023. He succeeded in entering the 200 million won range in 2022. However, cracks began to appear in this structure in 2023. Now that 2025 is the beginning, things that were hard to imagine are happening.
Hanwha announced on Monday the list of 61 players (45 players, 9 coaching staff, and 6 training coaches) who will participate in its training camp in Melbourne, Australia. Hanwha will depart for Australia on Feb. 22, adapt to the local area, and begin its training in earnest on Feb. 25. It will continue through Feb. 19, and has practice matches with the Australian national team for three consecutive days from Feb. 14 to Feb. 16. After returning to Korea on Feb. 19, Hanwha will depart again for Okinawa, Japan on Feb. 21 to set up a second camp focusing on actual games.
The 45 members of the first camp squad are larger than those of other teams. As Hanwha has the memory of conducting last year's Miyazaki Finishing Camp on a large scale, it can be said that the team continues to give strength to Kim Kyung-moon, who took the helm in the middle of last year's season. Before Kim took office, Kim had no contact with Hanwha, and as a result, he opened up an opportunity to display various players to the manager. However, Ha was not on the list, which also included a large number of rookie players.
Ha, who exercised his first free agent status after the end of the 2024 season, finally stayed with Hanwha after confirming the market's cold reaction. When the contract with the Hanwha Eagles was not successful, he made efforts in various fields, including signing and trade, but negotiations did not go well as a result. Ha ultimately stayed with Hanwha, deciding to receive up to 110 million won (approx. As he has an option of 20 million won (approx. Ha's annual salary last year was 70 million won (approx.
Still, he expected to join the camp and play again with a renewed mind because his contract was over before departure, but was excluded from the list. Given that contracts were made at the time the roster of camp was decided, and Shim Woo-joon, the main shortstop, was brought to the FA, Ha must have thought that it would be better to test the potential of other fielders than Ha. Ha is expected to start the season in the second-tier camp. As a player, he must be experiencing a frustrating period.먹튀검증
In contrast, infielders Lee Do-yoon and Hwang Young-mook, who were competing with Ha ahead of the 2024 season, will happily sign the contract and head to Australia. According to Hanwha's announcement on Monday, Lee completed the negotiation for salary in 2025 at 110 million won, an increase of 35 million won (47 percent) from last year's 75 million won (75 million U.S. dollars). It is the first title of an annual salary that will reach 100 million won. Hwang Young-mook, who caused a sensation last year, also saw his salary increase by 53 million won (177 percent) from 30 million won (29,000 dollars) to 83 million won (810 dollars), the highest among those eligible for renewal.
Lee, who graduated from Bukil High School and was drafted by Hanwha in the second third round (24th overall) in 2015, has been a backup for Ha for a long time. It was quite a long time since he failed to secure a position in the first team, and 2021 was the first season where he played more than 50 games. However, he has started to threaten Ha's position based on his stable defense capabilities. He played in 80 games in 2022, and took advantage of Ha's drunk driving scandal to participate in 106 games in 2023, achieving more than 100 games in a season nine years after his debut.
Although he had been labeled as weak in attack compared to defense, he garnered trust from the bench by showing his gradually improving performance. Lee had the best season of his career offensively, as he played in 134 games with a batting average of 0.277 and 46 RBIs last year. Although Shim Woo-joon hit a snag, he can still be useful in the Hanwha infield. He proved his expectation by earning hundreds of millions of dollars in annual salary.
Hwang Young-mook, who was praised by manager Kim Kyung-moon last year by creating a sensation in the Hanwha infield, is also poised to overtake Ha Joo-seok. Hwang, who had to eat bread soaked in tears by the independent baseball team because he was not nominated after graduating from high school, was given a surprise nomination in the fourth round of the 2024 Rookie Draft, and broke down his prejudice against the independent league through his performance last year. He had a batting average of 0.301, three homers and 35 RBIs in 123 games during this season, fueling tension in the Hanwha infield. He will also be selected as the dark horse of the Hanwha infield this year.
However, not all competitions are over yet. Just because you go to the first camp, there is no guarantee that you will go to the second camp. The second camp is focused on actual games, so it is difficult for too many players. This is because players have to be given time to play individually. And if the second-tier camp gives a good evaluation, you can come to Okinawa anytime. Usually, the coaching staff is recommended for the second-tier Futures League players to gain tension and motivation for the second-tier players, and at least one or two players often check their performance in the second camp. Ha is in a condition where he can make a comeback. It is cruel for players to see if there is a reversal and another reversal, but there is nothing bad about a healthy competition for the team.