Doosan caught Yang Seok-hwan, and the remaining task is to sign a contract for foreign batters
Doosan signed an FA contract with Yang Seok-hwan on November 30 for 4+2 years and up to 7.8 billion won. Yang Seok-hwan was considered the "biggest fish" in the FA market this year, and he hit a big deal and will play as the Bears' main hitter until at least 2027 season.
Yang Seok-hwan will receive a total of 6.5 billion won from 2024 to 2027, including a down payment of 2 billion won, a total annual salary of 3.9 billion won, and incentives of 600 million won. Since then, a two-year mutual option of 1.3 billion won has been included, which is triggered by an agreement between the club and the player.
Yang Seok-hwan said, "My baseball life started again when I joined Doosan in a trade. I wanted to stay on the team since I exercised my FA qualification. "I would like to thank Park Jung-won, the owner of the team, for signing the contract on good terms," he said. "I think the FA contract is not the end, but the beginning. "I will take the lead in continuing Doosan's own culture as a central hitter and a good senior with a sense of responsibility," he said.
Yang Seok-hwan was Doosan's 'non-fungible' first baseman resource. He hit .281 (147 hits in 524 at-bats) in 140 games this season with 21 homers and 89 RBIs with an OPS of 0.787. He did his part by recording the most home runs and RBIs in the team.
Yang Seok-hwan's detailed performance fell slightly compared to his batting average of 0.273 (133 hits in 488 times at bat) with 28 home runs and 96 RBIs in the 2021 season, the first year of Doosan's transfer. However, compared to the batting average of 0.244 (99 hits in 405 at-bats) of 22 home runs and 51 RBIs in the 2022 season, he succeeded in rebounding in the 2023 season.
Above all, the 2023 season had a clear atmosphere of "tugotazer." No first baseman showed better performance than Yang Seok-hwan, except that LG Twins foreign hitter Austin Dean batted .313 (163 for 520) with 23 home runs and 95 RBIs with a 0.893 OPS in 139 games. Yang Seok-hwan was a necessary player for Doosan to regain the top spot next season.
With Doosan holding Yang Seok-hwan, the next step is to recruit foreign batters. Doosan is looking for an outfielder who can help the team's power, including Jose Rojas, who has been with the team this season.
Doosan manager Lee Seung-yeop said, "I received a briefing from the club on foreign batters during the final period of the closing camp in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, last month. "First of all, I saw about six outfielders," he said, adding, "Lohas is also included in the candidate list. "We are looking at which players will be suitable in our team's composition," he said.
Rojas recorded a batting average of 0.253 (102 hits in 403 at-bats) with 19 home runs and 65 RBIs in 122 games in the 2023 season. The batting average is not high, but he showed off his solid long-range power and productivity was not bad.
Rojas had a batting average of 0.222 (45 hits in 203 at-bats) with 10 homers and 33 RBIs in 65 games in the first half of this year. He suffered a severe batting slump and went through a second-tier match once, but gradually recovered his skills with the full support and trust of coach Lee Seung-yeop and other coaching staff. In the second half of the year, Doosan played a batting average of 0.285 (57 hits in 200 at-bats) with nine home runs and 32 RBIs with a 0.895, helping Doosan advance to the postseason in fifth place.
However, it is also true that Rojas did not 100% meet Doosan's expectations. It is difficult to say that the outfield defense, which lacked sophistication in batting and mainly played right field, also performed a "one-serve" role.
Doosan ranked ninth among the 10 clubs with a team batting average of 0.255 in the 2023 season and the lowest with 565. A rebound in attack power is essential to take off in the 2024 season. He took the last train of the fall baseball in fifth place, but he relied heavily on his pitching ability.
For this reason, Doosan lost 9-14 in the wild card game against the NC Dinos, who ranked fourth in the regular league, and ended the 2023 season in vain. The mound failed to hold out and the firepower fight was also pushed to NC, ending the fall baseball with one game.
Coach Lee Seung-yeop rolled up his sleeves to improve his team's offense during the closing camp. He held Kim Jae-hwan, Kim In-tae, Kang Seung-ho, and other regular members of the first team and sweated.
Coach Lee Seung-yeop also said, "Our team's batting was ninth this year and our RBI was last." "The 2023 season was played with pitching power," he said, stressing, "We need a strong offensive power for fun and to ease the burden on pitchers."
"I think the ranking that can go up a little bit more is finished in fifth place because the batting line has been very sluggish," he said, adding, "We need more active aggression than this year next year and must not fall further." "I trained hard with the players during the closing camp, thinking I only had to go up," he explained.
Doosan desperately needs the growth of Kim Dae-han and Doosan's beloved field prospects in the 2024 season and a rebound of veteran Kim Jae-hwan. At the same time, the power of a foreign hitter with an "immediate sense of power" is also needed. He took a breather with Yang Seok-hwan's remaining, but one of the tasks of the stove league is what kind of foreign hitter he brings.
Coach Lee Seung-yeop said, "Foreign batters are watching the outfield side before the contract of Yang Seok-hwan was concluded during the closing camp, rather than the first base."
Doosan is certain to fill the foreign hitter slot in the 2024 season with outfielders as the issue of Yang Seok-hwan's contract has been resolved. Rojas has been struggling with options such as renewing his contract and recruiting a new player.