“First of all, there were various discussions.”
The Doosan Bears and free agent Hong Gun-hee, 31, met for the third time on Nov. 18.
Hong, who was drafted by the KIA Tigers with the ninth overall pick in the second round of the 2011 KBO Draft, became eligible for free agency after last season.
As a pitcher, he was valuable. He can throw a fastball that can reach 150 kilometers per hour. However, his pitches were a bit lacking, and the trade was a turning point.
In June 2020, he moved to Doosan in a one-for-one trade with Ryu Ji-hyuk. At the time, the pitching staff, including manager Kim Tae-hyung, advised him to “throw the ball confidently rather than obsessing over the pitch.”
As he gained confidence, 토토사이트 his pitches started to catch. In his first year with the team, he pitched 60 games and 60 innings, becoming a key part of Doosan’s bullpen.
In 2021, he finished with a 6-6 record in 65 games with 74 1/3 innings pitched, three saves, 17 holds, and a 2.78 ERA, and in 2022, he finished with 18 saves and nine holds in 58 games with 62 innings pitched.
Last year, Hong continued to pitch consistently.
In 64 games (61⅔ innings), he posted 22 saves and five shutouts with a 3.06 ERA, anchoring Doosan’s back end. Although he struggled in the postseason wild-card game against the NC Dinos, giving up six runs on four hits (one home run) and two walks in ⅔ innings, he was a solid bullpen presence in 14 games since September, posting a 1.88 ERA in 14⅓ innings.
It wasn’t just the numbers. In 2021, he led the pitching staff as a pitching coach for the third straight year. He also served as a mentor to the players who moved between the first and second teams, as he was unable to establish himself in the first team.
After the season, Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop said, “It’s not easy to find a pitcher who can record more than 20 saves,” and hoped that Hong would stay. He also said, “I hope there is some good news. I hope the club will be good to me,” and waited for a contract.
Hong Gun-hee is an FA Grade A player. When signing a Class A player, the original club must pay 300% of the previous year’s salary or 200% of the salary and one player in addition to 20 protected players.
There were three rounds of negotiations with Doosan.
The first negotiation didn’t mean much. The negotiations were far apart. Hong changed agents after the first negotiation.
The new agent and Doosan met over a year later, and the first negotiation table was set on the third of this month. As it was the new agent’s first negotiation, it was a “discovery war”.
About a month later, they met again. This time, 토토사이트 추천 the parties exchanged opinions on each other in more detail than before. “We talked about what kind of contract we need to make in order to reach an agreement,” explained a Doosan representative. While the gap has narrowed, there are still differences in the size of the contract.
“We will meet again next week to continue negotiations,” the Doosan official said.