Doosan succeeded in catching Yang Seok-hwan (32), a “jamsil big gun” in the FA market. Doosan officially announced on the 30th of last month that it has agreed to a 4+2 year deal with Yang Seok-hwan.
The total amount of the first four-year contract agreed between Doosan and Yang Seok-hwan is up to 6.5 billion won (down payment of 2 billion won, annual salary of 3.9 billion won, incentive of 600 million won). After the first four-year contract is terminated, a two-year mutual option of 1.3 billion won can be invoked. Ahn received the most treatment among players in the FA market this year. Ahn Chi-hong’s contract with Hanwha totaled 7.2 billion won for 4+2 years.
Doosan is the largest Jamsil stadium in Korea, and serves as its home ground. Yang Seok-hwan is a “jamsil big gun” who has achieved 20 home runs for three consecutive years. He was a player that Doosan should never miss. 에볼루션 바카라사이트
In fact, when Doosan recruited Yang through trade in 2021, most of the critics said it was a trade that Doosan lost. He took the risk of bleeding by giving up Ham Deok-ju, an all-weather left-hander who can be utilized as a starting pitcher, middle pitcher, and closing pitcher. However, Yang had 20 homers in three consecutive years since joining Doosan, reversing public opinion.
Yang has always been an unexpected player. After joining LG in 2014, he became a surprise star at exhibition games in 2015. He had a batting average of .471 (8 hits in 17 at-bats) with one homer and five RBIs in seven games. A third baseman position like Yang already had Jack Hanna-han as a foreign hitter, but Hanna-han was a car that was suffering from a calf strain. Then LG manager Yang Sang-moon decided to add Yang to the opening game entry, saying, “I am good at hitting low. I will add him to the first team entry.”
This provided an opportunity for Yang to emerge as the starting pitcher. Yang, who left a batting average of .260 with eight home runs and 48 RBIs in 2015, recorded a batting average of .276 with six home runs and 37 RBIs in 2016, and began to show his potential by recording a batting average of .263 with 14 home runs and 83 RBIs in 2017. He also completed preparations to be reborn as a true “silver gun” as he marked the first 20 home runs with a batting average of .263 with 22 home runs and 82 RBIs in 2018.
While Yang was serving in the military at Sangmu, however, many things happened. LG recruited Kim Min-sung as an FA in a sign-and-trade format to fill the vacancy of third baseman, and a foreign slugger named Roberto Ramos appeared as the first baseman. Yang returned to LG during the 2020 season, but his position had already disappeared.
Still, Yang was not frustrated. At the exhibition game in 2021, Ryu had a batting average of .471 (8 hits in 17 at-bats), one homer and two RBIs, showing good condition. It was Doosan. As Oh Jae-il and Choi Joo-hwan transferred through FA, Doosan faced a task to fill the first baseman position. He was nervous about securing the first baseman position to foreign hitter Jose Fernandez, and Kim Min-hyuk, a rising star, did not get accepted points.
Doosan succeeded in filling the gap at first base by recruiting Yang through a trade with LG. Up until the time of the trade, the prevailing view was that Doosan suffered losses. Yang was also well aware of such reaction. On his first day at Doosan in a trade, Yang said, “It is a great opportunity for me. As Doosan also used good players as trade cards, I think I should make an effort to hear that Doosan did a good job in the trade.” However, when I opened the lid, I found an unexpected result.
Yang Seok-hwan was freed from the stress of his competition to become a starting pitcher by joining the Doosan Bears and had the best season of his career with a batting average of .273 28 home runs and 86 RBIs. Yang, who filled 20 home runs and 51 RBIs despite struggling with a batting average of .244 last year, proved his value with a batting average of .281 21 home runs and 89 RBIs this year. Ham Deok-ju also appeared in 57 games this year with four wins, four saves and a 16-hold ERA, contributing to LG’s victory in the Korean Series, but it was Doosan’s “overwhelming victory” before recruiting Yang Seok-hwan.
Yang, who broke expectations from his early years as a pro to become a starting player, also dashed expectations that his trade would end up as a failure, and stood out as the hero of the “FA Super Jackpot.” I wonder if he will be able to show better-than-expected performances next year.