“Very reassuring, thank you”
The most recent golden age for the Hanwha Eagles is definitely 2018. Hanwha finished the regular season in 3rd place with an excellent record of 77 wins, 67 losses and an odds ratio of 0.535, and succeeded in stepping into the postseason stage. But the following year, a sudden downfall began. Hanwha ranked 9th with a win rate of 0.403 from 58 wins and 86 losses in 2020, and in the 2020 season, it recorded ‘last place’ among 10 clubs with a win rate of 0.326 with 46 wins, 3 draws and 95 losses.
Amid disappointing results for two consecutive years, Hanwha embarked on a major reorganization. Kim Tae-kyun, who had been active as Hanwha’s ‘signboard hitter’, announced his retirement, and Hanwha organized a large number of veteran resources such as Song Kwang-min, Lee Yong-gyu, Choi Jin-haeng, Yoon Gyu-jin, and Ahn Young-myeong. It was Hanwha’s firm will to proceed with a ‘generational shift’ in earnest.
The direction of the club to give young and young prospects a chance was clear, but as most of the players who would hold the ‘center’ of the team left, Hanwha continued to be in the bottom ranks. In the 2021 season, 49 wins, 12 draws, 83 losses, an odds ratio of 0.371, and in 2022, an odds ratio of 0.324, 46 wins, 2 draws, and 96 losses, stayed in 10th place. Perhaps it was because of the lack of development rather than a generational change, and after the 2022 season, Hanwha decided to jump into the FA (free agent) market.
At the time, Hanwha, which was aggressive enough to target Yang Eui-ji, the ‘FA’s largest fish’, signed a contract with Chae Eun-seong for a total of 9 billion won for 6 years in November of last year, and embraced Lee Tae-yang for a total of 2.5 billion won over 4 years the next day. And after 6 days, it achieved remarkable reinforcement, such as recruiting Oh Seon-jin and Lee Myung-gi through a sign and trade for up to 400 million won for 1+1 years.
Hanwha, which has secured veteran resources through FA recruitment and even collected good prospects based on its performance so far, is in second place alone with a win rate of 0.700, 7 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses in this year’s demonstration games. There is a saying that ‘Exhibition game results are meaningless’, but it was clearly different from the regular season in recent years. The main evaluation is that the ‘texture’ has improved.
Coach Carlos Subero smiled broadly at the joining of players with richer experience than the existing Hanwha players. Prior to the game on the 25th, coach Subero, who was asked, “What role do veteran players such as Chae Eun-seong and Lee Myung-gi play and how they affect the team?” .
Continuing, he said, “Leadership is actually an invisible tool. Leadership is more important than visible tools.” In the infield, Oh Seon-jin gives the infielders a sense of mental stability. He plays the role of a mental support very well. Chae Eun-seong, Noh Soo-kwang, and Lee Myung-ki are playing veteran roles in “The Star Wars”, Jang Min-jae in the starting lineup, and Jung Woo-ram and Lee Tae-yang in Salvation provide really good leadership for each part.” 온라인바카라
As most veterans parted ways after the 2020 season ended, Hanwha was the lowest among the 10 KBO League clubs. It is true that no matter how experienced veterans exist, it is not easy to voice them. But now this problem has been completely solved. The internal part of the game, that is, the performance, is important, but the command tower showed particular satisfaction that the discipline of the young players was caught due to the addition of veterans.
“The young players have matured more not only in the game but also in the clubhouse,” said Subero. I couldn’t try because there were a lot of them, but this year (veteran players) in each field are catching (young) players well without being burdened,” he said, “very reassuring, and thank you.”