What happened to the 2017 KIA Tigers' championship catcher...

FA Kim Min-sik (35) was hit by a 'Lee Ji-young-bal grenade'. This is because SSG Landers signed and traded Lee Ji-young on the 12th. The Kiwoom Heroes had released Lee Ji-young from her contract early on. After signing a two-year, 400 million won contract with SSG, they traded her. Kiwoom received 250 million won and SSG's third-round draft pick in the 2024 rookie draft.

Lee Ji-young's departure to SSG puts the spotlight on Kim Min-sik (35, free agent). Like Lee Ji-young, Kim Min-sik's negotiations with his original club, SSG, were stalled. SSG emphasizes that the door is still open to signing Kim Min-sik. It's impossible to block a player's path.

However, the free agent market works on the principle of supply and demand, and SSG's acquisition of Lee Ji-young will likely reduce Kim Min-sik's price. To put it bluntly, the need for Kim Min-sik is reduced now that they have a starting catcher. Of course, Lee Ji-young is 38 years old and doesn't have much future value, so there is still a need for Kim Min-sik. However, SSG also has resources such as Cho Hyung-woo that they are developing. 카지노사이트가이드 

Kim joined the SK Wyverns with the 11th pick of the 2012 second round after graduating from Wonkwang University. In 821 career games, he has a .227 batting average with 24 home runs, 214 RBIs, and a .622 OPS. He's not a great offensive catcher. Instead, he's a solid catcher with solid defense.

In 2023, he ranked second among catchers with a 0.946 WAA, ninth with a 0.504 PASS/9, sixth with a 32% throwing out rate, and ninth with a 4.22 ERA. Even if his value as a defensive catcher isn't the best in the league, he's still a decent enough catcher.

He was traded to the KIA Tigers at the beginning of the 2017 season, where he became their championship catcher. In 2022, he returned to his hometown SSG Landers, where he once again became the championship catcher, and in 2023, he pushed Lee Jae-won (Hanwha Eagles) out of the way to become the starting catcher.

He became a free agent after the 2023 season. He's 35 years old, so he's a C. Surprisingly, however, SSG's contract negotiations did not work out. In fact, the free agent market for catchers is virtually closed, unlike a year ago. Excluding SSG, nine teams have already decided on their starting catchers for the 2024 season. Kim Min-sik is definitely not lucky in terms of the circumstances surrounding him.

At the end of the day, the reality that Kim is not the best catcher in the league based on his overall value has been harsh on him. S-level players are superstars in free agency, regardless of supply and demand. Due to the nature of the catcher position, only A-grade players are valuable in the free agent market. In this situation, SSG signed Lee Ji-young, leaving Kim Min-sik virtually nowhere to go in the free agent market.