The FA Sell-Off

“What? Does that even make sense?!”

I stormed into the GM's office, hit by thunderbolt-like rumors before I could even fully savor our Korean Series victory.

“Sigh... It wasn't my decision. It came straight from the owner.”

Park Seong-sik, the GM, clutched his head like it was killing him as I yelled at him.

I'd come bursting in over the whereabouts of our FA players. Park Byung-hyun heading to MLB wasn't news to me. But this year, we had four players hitting free agency: hitters Yoo Jun-han and Lee Geun-taek, pitchers Son Seung-hyuk and Min Jeong-gil.

And I'd just heard from the operations team that they weren't even going to try keeping Yoo Jun-han and Son Seung-hyuk.

Who were these guys? Yoo Jun-han had batted .362, good for second among all hitters in the league. Plus, his solid defense had him locked in as our center fielder.

Son Seung-hyuk, meanwhile, had been a shutdown closer for us all year.

“Even if it's tough, how are we supposed to play baseball without Yoo Jun-han and Son Seung-hyuk?!”

“We've got Kang Hyun-jun. He can hold it down even without Yoo Jun-han.”

“Kang Hyun-jun's great, but he's not at Yoo Jun-han's level yet. And defense? Not even close.”

“We've got Go Jong-hun and Im Byung-yoon too. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠And we're keeping Lee Geun-taek, right?”

“Sigh... Fine, but what about Son Seung-hyuk? Who's replacing him?”

“He barely got any save chances this year. He's old—past his prime.”

“Son Seung-hyuk didn't get saves because our hitters were crushing it—no blown saves, the fewest among closers.”

“We've got Kim Hyun-se and Jo Sang-hun. Han Hyun-ho too.”

“Kim Hyun-se is fine, but Jo Sang-hun's elbow is shot—that's why he barely pitched in the Series. Hyun-ho's heading for elbow surgery soon.”

“And that kid... Shin Ha-jin? He's showing promise. Yi Yang-hun's there, Shin Young-jae just came back. Look, I don't know—you convince the owner.”

Park Seong-sik waved me off like I was a pesky customer. No choice but to back down.

Of course I was furious at the idea of dumping our players right after winning it all. But I couldn't dwell—this was prime time for the biennial secondary draft. We had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to protect 40 players.

Park Byung-hyun, with his posting for MLB, was a non-issue; low chance of getting picked anyway. Same for the FAs: Yoo Jun-han, Son Seung-hyuk, Lee Geun-taek, and Min Jeong-gil.

Rookies from last year who debuted were auto-protected: Lee Ji-seung, Kim Kang-jun, Choi Tae-won, Kim Taek-hyung.

We had to pick the rest carefully—guys we weren't using, who other teams could take without hurting us.

Small mercy: no talk of trading Lee Ji-seung, Kim Kang-jun, Kim Seong-ha, or Kang Hyun-jun.

I got why they might be antsy about trading those kids—they were all the same age.

To post to MLB, you need seven years service; eighth gets you FA rights. But teams like ours post at seven to cash in. Only one per team per year.

Lee Ji-seung and Kim Kang-jun overlapped with Kim Seong-ha and Kang Hyun-jun. The front office was still weighing values.

Once they decided, someone was gone. Maybe next year.

That was why I was only signing two-year deals—jump ship after. With all this player trading, no point pouring my soul into developing talent.

I'd grind hard the next two years, build my resume, then bolt to a stable club.

...

In the late-November KBO secondary draft, we gave up Kim Taek-hyung, Park Do-heon, Song Young-shin, and Shim Him-chan.

In return: first round, infielder Kim Woo-bin from Incheon Wyverns; second, pitcher Lee Yang-hyun from Seoul Bears; third, pitcher Kim Sung-hoon from Seoul Bears.

Lee Yang-hyun was Yi Yang-hun's little brother—same great build. With coaching, he'd be solid.

Kim Woo-bin had potential in the low 40s; decent backup.

Lee Yang-hyun was army-bound next year, back in '18—no real overlap with me.

I kept hunting trades, but no one bit—maybe I was radioactive. Good buzz in baseball circles about me, though.

Rookies from the newbie draft—Jeon Sang-hyuk, Choi Sang-young, Shin Ha-jin—were shining.

But first-round pick Joo Hyo-seong wasn't improving—headache.

Bad news: Van Hekken, our 15-game winner, was off to Japan next year.

We needed starters. Couldn't meddle in foreign signings—hoping ops and scouts nailed it.

Pier Band re-signed, though. Snyder was done. They brought in batter Danny Dunn to fill Park Byung-hyun's hole—power bat, hopefully.

Player spending was insane.

...

More infuriating crap. With roster planning, Yoo Jun-han and Son Seung-hyuk leaving was basically done.

One hope: compensation players. FAs leaving nets you their prior salary times 200%, plus a comp pick.

Comps based on FA grade—Yoo and Son were both A-grade, so we pick from their 20 unprotected.

But Yoo went to Suwon Wiz. New team, so rules say cash only for three years—no comp pick. We got 300% salary instead.

Son Seung-hyuk signed with Busan Giants. Owner Lee Jang-sik? Took 300% cash, no comp.

Pocketed it all—no reinvestment. No wonder I was raging.

I went home, cursing up a storm—Seon-ah had to calm me down.

Time flew amid the fury, bringing the 2015 KBO Awards.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Pitching Golden Glove went predictably to wins leader Lee Ji-seung.

Park Byung-hyun could've taken 1B, but handing it to Kim Kang-jun midseason cost us—Taimz snagged it.

2B hurt with Seo Geon-cheol's injury.

3B: Yun Min-seok and Kim Seong-min split time, shorted innings—Park Min-seok edged us.

SS was ours—Kim Seong-ha delivered.

Yoo Jun-han nabbed OF for Wiz; Choi Woo-hyung and Na Beom-seong the others. Kang Hyun-jun was up but too young.

DH to Kim Kang-jun.

Rookie and MVP: Lee Ji-seung became the second since KBO's founding to sweep both—a high school grad with 20 wins, 1.78 ERA, 200K. Pitching Triple Crown. Second after Eagles' Ryu Hyeok-jin. Youngest MVP ever.

Thrilled our guys cleaned up, but worried the front office scales had tipped.

Lee Ji-seung's Triple Crown might overshadow Kim Kang-jun. But Kang-jun had DH Glove and Series MVP—fair match.

Kim Seong-ha's SS Glove left Kang Hyun-jun empty-handed—worrisome. Still, Hyun-jun had untapped potential; they wouldn't rush.

I just prayed no trades while I was manager.