The KIA Tigers and SSG Landers made a trade on May 9, 2022. It was a deal actively moved by SSG, whose catcher was in urgent need. It took over catcher Kim Min-sik, who was handed over in a major trade in 2017. Instead, Kia has been receiving left-hander Kim Sa-yoon and big gun prospect Lim Seok-jin.

KIA previously recruited catcher Park Dong-won from Kiwoom Heroes on April 25, 2022, and had put out the urgent fire in its home turf. They already agreed to a trade, judging that it would not be appropriate to use Kim Min-sik, who led the 2017 Korean Series championship, as a backup for Park Dong-won.토토사이트

As a result, neither club had much fun with the trade. Still, Kim Min-sik was an experienced catcher, so he played in 104 games in 2022 and 122 games in 2023. However, he played only 45 games in the 2024 season. This is because Lee Ji-young, who is more experienced than Kim Min-sik, joined as a signee & trade.

Kim Min-sik is likely to be Lee Ji-young's backup again this season. In addition, SSG is struggling with the growth of promising catchers Cho Hyung-woo and Lee Yul-ye. It seems that Kim Min-sik needs a lot of effort to secure time to play. For SSG, Kim Min-sik's strong performance is a great welcome.

KIA has been receiving Kim Sa-yoon and Lim Seok-jin as part of efforts to strengthen its bullpen and slugger depth. However, Kim posted an ERA of 7.00 with three wins and two holds in 31 games in the 2022 season, and one loss and one save with an ERA of 4.62 with 23 games in the 2024 season. He posted the best performance since joining the team in the 2013 season, but has a very good depth in the KIA bullpen. The salary negotiations for the 2025 season ended on Tuesday. The annual salary for this season is 40 million won.

Kim Sa-yoon cannot afford to go to the Irvine Spring Camp in the first division or the Kochi Spring Camp in the second division immediately. He is suffering from elbow pain. He is expected to join the Hampyeong rehabilitation team and systematically rehabilitate. If he recovers physical condition, he may have a chance in the first division. Anyway, the more left-handed bullpen sessions, the better. It is a good reserve resource for KIA. However, the trade did not make much fun of it.

Lim has already retired. He was released as of January 31, 2024. After graduating from Seoul High School, he was selected as the sixth in the second round in 2016. However, SSG has Choi Jeong, the third baseman of the KBO's "Living Legend." It was difficult to overcome this barrier.

So, moving to Kia was an opportunity. However, he left 10 games in the 2022 season with a batting average of 0.071. He did not have a chance to play in the first division in the 2023 season. At a hot corner of KIA, a new star was born named Kim Do-young. It was not an easy life for Lim to play as an active player.

Still, there is still time for Kim Min-sik and Kim Sa-yoon to jump. If that happens, it could be a trade where both clubs can find their money.