SSG Landers Appoints Former KT Wiz Head of Development Lee Sung-yong as the 9th Head Coach, Remodeling is the name of the game.
SSG announced on the 17th that it has appointed Lee "Sung-yong" Lee, former head of KT Wiz development, as the ninth head coach. Rumors abounded after the firing of Kim Won-hyung, who led last year's Tom Hap Woo, on March 31, but the decision was made to give the new coach the baton from among four candidates.
Lee signed a two-year contract for a total of 900 million won, including a 300 million won signing bonus and a 300 million won annual salary. SSG began the search for a new head coach with the goal of "transforming the operating paradigm for sustainable development," and selected a new group of candidates who could actively implement it under the banner of communicative leadership and team remodeling. SSG then set up evaluation criteria by extracting essential competencies and virtues in various fields, and after an in-depth interview to discuss the club's direction and baseball values, we selected the new manager, Lee Sung-yong."
Before the announcement, a club official said, "There are many good people. So we are thinking about it and being cautious." After much consideration, they chose Lee. The club said, "With his years of coaching and front office experience, he possesses in-depth knowledge of the development system and KBO baseball trends, and his insight into season operations makes him the right person to reach the club's goals in a short period of time."
In announcing the termination of Kim Won-hyung's contract, SSG said, "We decided that we needed to make changes and innovations in the overall team operation and player generation. Changes were inevitable in order to renew the team and transform it into a strong team that is loved even more."
Since then, the team has made a number of changes. Offense and infield coach Kim Min-jae left for Lotte and hitting coach Jung Kyung-bae left for Hanwha. In addition, Cho Woong-chun, the secondary pitching coach, 바카라사이트 and Lee Jin-young, the secondary hitting coach, all left the team.
Despite the departure of many of the coaches who led the team to the title, SSG also informed first-team pitching coach Chae Byung-yong, fielding coach Son Ji-hwan, training coach Kwak Hyun-hee, Future Team (second-team) pitching coach Park Joo-un, and conditioning coach Ryu Jae-joon that they will not be re-signed for next season.
The team is being completely overhauled. The Futures team, which had been operating under Lee Dae-soo, also appointed a new head coach. Son Si-heon is leading the second team and has been training in Kagoshima, Japan, for the past three days with a group of young hopefuls who could be the mainstay of the first team.
Choi Jung can't be the 'fixer' and Kim Kwang-hyun the 'ace' forever. In the future, one of the younger players will have to step up to the plate. But the truth is, SSG has relied heavily on veterans this season, and you could say they haven't given the younger players a chance. But it's also true that they didn't see any young players who could compete in the first team.
Speaking ahead of the final camp in Kagoshima, Japan, an SSG official said, "The final camp is really important. We need to diligently develop good players not only for next year but also for the future of the team."
Second team coach Son Si-heon has a lot of responsibility, but the new coach, who is described as having a "servant leadership style" that "supports the coaching staff and players to maximize their potential based on open communication and mutual respect," should be able to scratch the club's itch.
