Notification of 'shock release' → "I was thinking of retiring 90%, but..." A big twist occurred
Notification of 'shock release' → "I was thinking of retiring 90%, but..." A big twist occurred
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Oh Sun-jin (36), a veteran player of the Hanwha Eagles who celebrated his 18th year as a professional baseball player. He confessed that he thought about retiring after receiving a release from the Lotte Giants last year. The team that gave him a hand is the Kiwoom Heroes. What kind of performance will Oh Sun-jin show in the 2025 season.
Oh was announced to be released after the end of the season after playing for Lotte in the 2024 season. Kiwoom signed a contract to Oh Sun-jin with an annual salary of 40 million won.토토사이트
The reason why Kiwoom recruited Oh Sun-jin is clear. Kim Hye-sung, who was the main infielder for Kiwoom, moved to the LA Dodgers after the 2024 season. Kiwoom did not ignore the value of a veteran who can give many advice to juniors while reinforcing the backup infielder in the absence of the main infielder. "We expect Oh Sun-jin to play an important role as a backup infielder based on his diverse experience and excellent skills. It will also be of great help to the management of the fielders," Kiwoom said.
Oh Sun-jin is also included in the list of Kiwoom's first-team spring camp, and has been gradually improving his condition. "I think my mindset right now is that of a rookie. It wasn't like a trade or anything, but I saved my team after I was released. I think that's my mindset this season. I think I'm more serious about this," Oh said.
Regarding the situation of the call from Kiwoom, he said, "It took a while (after notification of release). I was waiting for another team's call, but there was no call. So while I and the agent were looking for it, Kiwoom and I were on the same page. I felt good for now after hearing Kiwoom's intention to recruit. Because I thought it was the last time. Kiwoom was the last team I could play as a player. If it didn't work, I wanted to recognize the other side, and my mind was over 80 to 90%. But Kiwoom contacted me and I was able to make it feel good."
Oh Sun-jin even had his retirement in mind. He said, "I think there will be a year or two to play baseball. Since there are many young players here, I want to permeate them well and show good performance this season," and said about the competition with his juniors, "I think it's a place that if we work hard, someone will take over. I don't dwell much on that. Still, I think I have strength in defense. I'm thinking about backup to support the starting lineup and things that I can do first when the starting lineup is out of stamina."
"Last season, I think I was a little bit chased at the stadium. Personally, I felt very strong that I should do well in my first year at Lotte. But that doesn't mean I'll be relaxed this year. I'll try my best while enjoying myself with young players," he said again.
Kiwoom will hold training sessions in the Arizona camp for six days and one day off. Oh Sun-jin said, "I think I'll be okay with that schedule if I just play baseball. Still, shouldn't I take a day or two off? I'm also..."Nothing like that at all. I'm going to focus on playing more games without getting injured. I'll do my best on the field," he said.
In the meantime, Oh played in 1,135 games during his 15 seasons in the KBO League, and recorded 633 hits in 2,632 at-bats, 18 homers, 229 RBIs, 275 runs and 49 steals, with a batting average of 0.241. Oh Sun-jin, who wore the Hanwha Eagles uniform as the 26th overall pick in the fourth round in the 2008 second rookie draft, played as an Eagles one-club man until mid-2021. Then, he made a surprise trade (a 1:1 trade with Lee Seong-gon at the time) with the Samsung Lions in 2021. After the end of the 2022 season, he returned to Hanwha by signing a free agent contract for up to 400 million won per year for one plus one. Then, he was removed from the 35-member probationary list and transferred to the Lotte Giants through the second draft ahead of the 2024 season. However, he was notified of his release without making a clear position at Lotte, and experienced a major reversal to become a member of the hero corps. How will Oh Sun-jin, who was determined to retire, perform in the 2025 season? Kiwoom fans' expectations are rising.