Is hard to find
The "Incheon version of Exodus (Great Escape, Great Migration)" is accelerating, which is hard to find in the history of professional baseball.
The biggest topic of the KBO League this offseason is SSG Landers. SSG, which replaced head coach Kim Won-hyung on October 31, has been waging a massive personnel reform drive since then. Under the banner of a generational change, not only the team but also the coaching staff are suffering from a large-scale reshuffle. There are many voices of concern that it may damage the redness of Incheon baseball, which has been going on since the days of the former SK Wyverns.
As of this season's opening game, there were 10 coaching staff in SSG's first division, including head coach Kim Won-hyung. As of the end of November, there are only three coaching staff left on the team, including Cho Won-woo, Lee Seung-ho and Cho Dong-hwa. Except for coach Cho Won-woo, who signed a multi-year contract (3 years), the list of "survival coaches" will be further reduced. In the process, coaches Jung Sang-ho, Cho Woong-cheon, and Lee Jin-young, who played in SK uniforms as players, packed up one after another.
In addition, 'SK One Club Man' coaches Park Jung-kwon and Chae Byung-yong also left the team. Park Chang-min, a first-team trainer who managed players' injuries for years, is also expected to move to KIA Tigers. The atmosphere is unsettled as even an international scout has left the company. A baseball official said, "Even the last-place team doesn't change to this extent. (The coach's ability is of course important), but isn't it because people gather to create the identity of the club?" SSG's situation is to the extent that players feel confused about their identity, he said.
The changing trend even hit the locker room. SSG was found to have excluded a large number of veteran players from the 35-member protection list ahead of the second draft on the 22nd. The related information led to articles close to real names, causing a strong backlash. Even if his recent performance was sluggish, there were loud calls from inside and outside the club over the exclusion of protected players from player A, who was highly trusted in the team.
The player did not receive the second draft pick and remained on the team. However, "unconvenient cohabitation" will be inevitable in the future. It was franchise star Kim Kang-min's second draft transfer that the close-knit detonated the detonator. SSG excluded Kim Kang-min from the protection list due to a complacent judgment that he would not pick him, who is about to retire. Hanwha Eagles, who judged that they needed to reinforce the outfield, exercised their nomination rights and the transfer was made.
What should be noted was the players' response. The team's flagship pitcher Kim Kwang-hyun and outfielder Han Yoo-seom openly expressed regret on their personal social media (SNS), causing fans to reverberate. Catcher Lee Jae-won, who worked with Kim Kwang-hyun in the past, was released on the 24th. Lee Jae-won's performance has plummeted in recent years, but he was a homebody that young pitchers trusted and threw. He was determined to retire from Incheon, but he was pushed back by a generational change. Another baseball official said, "A player's value is not just in visible performance. I think this part is too easy, he said. "It can't be a good way to send a message to leave the team (because it's sluggish). It also takes the club's efforts to create an atmosphere of retirement, he said.
In the offseason, SSG was devastated. The process of appointing a new head coach Lee Sung-yong after Kim Won-hyung's replacement was also not smooth. He openly opened the candidate list for director, raising eyebrows. Most of the coaching staff left the team, and the veteran who served as the center of the team disappeared. SSG moved Kim Sung-yong to the head of the R&D Center on the 25th, holding him responsible for the controversy. However, the club's internal feud remains.
