Doosan and Lotte have agreed to a large trade that includes five young players in their 20s.
The Doosan Bears announced in a press release on Tuesday that they have made a two-to-three trade by sending pitcher Jung Cheol-won and infielder Jeon Min-jae to the Lotte Giants and recruiting right-hander Choi Woo-in, outfielders Kim Min-seok and Choo Jae-hyun. "Kim Min-seok has sophisticated contact skills, while Choo Jae-hyun has outstanding pioneering skills. He will greatly contribute to the depth of outfielders," a Doosan official said. "We recruited Choi after seeing his potential as a military veteran with fastballs of 154 kilometers."
Having given up three players including Kim Min-seok, a promising player in the first round, Lotte has acquired Jeong Cheol-won, a professional bullpen pitcher who won the Rookie of the Year award, and Jeon Min-jae, an infielder who played in 100 games in the first division this season. Doosan has acquired three players including Kim Min-seok, a young outfielder born in 2004, who experienced full-time rookie season experience. How many players will become the mainstay of the team in the future in the trade, in which five young players in their 20s have joined the team.
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The main players who led Doosan's dynastic era, which is represented by advancing to the Korean Series for seven consecutive years, were Heo Kyung-min (kt Wiz), Park Gun-woo (NC Dinos), and Jung Soo-bin. However, after the 2021 season, Park Gun-woo signed with NC on the condition of a six-year total of 10 billion won, and even Heo Kyung-min, who served as Doosan's captain in 2023, moved to KT after this season, and the 1990 trio, which led the Bears' heyday, was scattered.
To make matters worse, even Kim Jae-ho, Doosan's main shortstop since the mid-2010s, decided to retire from the sport at the end of this season, leaving Doosan's infield empty. Considering next season, it was urgent to recruit infield resources, but Doosan gave up infielders Jeon Min-jae and recruited two outfielders. The key player Doosan acquired in this trade is Kim Min-seok, a promising player who was ranked third in the first round of the 2023 Rookie Draft.
Kim Min-seok, who has been considered one of the most promising fielders among his peers since his early days at Hwimungo University, turned into an outfielder after joining the pro league, and played in 129 games during the rookie season with a batting average of .255 102 hits, three homers, 39 RBIs, 53 runs and 16 steals. Kim seemed to be growing smoothly as Lotte's next-generation star, but only played in 41 games in the first team this season, falling behind in competition with Yoon Dong-hee and Hwang Sung-bin.
This season, Doosan's outfield was dominated by 36-year-old Kim Jae-hwan, 34-year-old Jung Soo-bin, and 31-year-old Cho Soo-haeng, while Kim Dae-han (23-year-old), a prospect from the first nomination, is slow to grow. In this situation, outfield prospects with full-time first-team experience are a resource worth raising in Doosan. Doosan fans expect Kim Min-seok to grow into a "punchy descendant of Jung Soo-bin" in the long run by reinforcing his lack of power.
Choo Jae-hyun, who moved back to the Seoul team after passing through Kiwoom Heroes and Lotte, is a military outfielder who resolved his mandatory military service by discharging Sangmu in July. He is considered a player who can put tension on the outfield competition with his outstanding pioneering eye and batting potential. Choi Woo-in, a right-hander who throws fast balls of 154km/h, has never been on the mound in the first division since joining the professional league and has a 9.24 ERA, so he should be raised in the long run.
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Lotte signed a four-year contract with closing pitcher Kim Won-joong for a total of 5.4 billion won (approx. 2+2 years) and setup man Koo Seung-min for a total of 2.1 billion won (approx. At first glance, Lotte seems to have made a lot of reinforcement, but it has only maintained its previous record of having the ninth ERA (5.26) in the bullpen this season. Therefore, Lotte desperately needed to strengthen the mound, especially the bullpen, for next season, and acquired right-hander Jeong Cheol-won, who was the Rookie of the Year in 2022, through a trade with Doosan.