After failing to reach the postseason for six consecutive years, the Lotte Giants are embarking on a major reorganization. First of all, they have appointed a manager who will hold the center of the team and lead it. It's manager Kim Tae-hyung.

On the 20th, Lotte announced, "We have appointed our 21st manager, Kim Tae-hyung, with a contract period of three years and a total of 2.4 billion won ($600,000 down payment and $600,000 annual salary)." The team has never won a postseason game since 2017.

Lotte, which hasn't made it to the postseason since 2017, set out to bolster its roster with bigger goals than just fall baseball. The team signed Park Se-woong to a five-year, $9 billion non-free agent contract, the first in the franchise's history, followed by Yoo Kang-nam (4 years, $8 billion), Noh Jin-hyuk (4 years, $5 billion), and Han Hyun-hee (3+1 years, $4 billion).

With such visible reinforcements, Lotte's early season surge was fierce. Lotte ended April in sole possession of first place, ending the season on a high note. But it wasn't a false sense of security. Last year, Lotte had also finished April in second place, only to see their performance drop off in May and ultimately miss the postseason. This year was a little different. 카지노

Lotte continued their good form in May, battling with the LG Twins and SSG Landers for the top spot and making a strong push for a postseason berth. However, last year's nightmare came back to haunt them. Injuries began to pile up in June and the team began to slide, and then, in the second half of the season, when they should have been in the thick of the race, manager Larry Sutton was forced to step down due to health concerns.

Injuries weren't the only reason for Lotte's plummeting performance. The team's free-agent signings were underperforming, and it was too late to replace injured and underperforming foreign players. In the end, the result of watching the team's performance decline was a disastrous sixth consecutive year of missing the postseason.

As the long regular season came to a close, there was a lot of talk about the next manager of Lotte, with Kim Tae-hyung being one of the most talked about names. Kim Tae-hyung is the "first" manager in the KBO to lead the Doosan Bears to the Korean Series (KS) for seven consecutive years, and he was coveted by teams other than Lotte who were looking for a managerial replacement.

In particular, on the 16th, a media outlet reported that Lotte had appointed Kim Tae-hyung as the new manager. Although Lotte has been searching for a new manager since shortly after Sutton's resignation in August, a Lotte official said, "Nothing has been decided. There needs to be a consultation process with the (Lotte) holding company. And CEO Lee Kang-hoon hasn't even met with coach Kim Tae-hyung." While it is true that Lee is the most likely candidate, he hasn't met with him and nothing has been decided.

So when did Lotte meet with Kim Tae-hyung and put the seal on the contract? According to Lotte officials, Kim Tae-hyung met with CEO Lee Kang-hoon in Seoul on the same day and put the seal on the final contract. Lotte was busy signing Kim Tae-hyung, who hadn't even met on the 16th. Everything went smoothly.

"Since August, we have been communicating a lot with the group (Lotte Holdings) about who the right person is. It's not like we were sitting on our hands. We have a long list of candidates and have been preparing. When the article came out, we were in the process of preparing. And today, the director and CEO Kim Tae-hyung met, and it was confirmed."

Lotte has always had a philosophy of not entrusting the baton to novice managers, and the appointment of Kim Tae-hyung as the 21st manager was largely due to the "intention" of owner Shin Dong-bin. Shin wanted someone who could bring out the best in the players based on strong leadership to lead Lotte.

A Lotte representative said, "Owner Shin Dong-bin has a lot of love for the baseball team. He wanted the manager to be someone who could improve the team's performance based on strong leadership and a winning spirit, understand the strengths and weaknesses of each player in the team, and motivate the team a little more. CEO Lee Kang-hoon knows this very well, which is why he chose Kim Tae-hyung."

It's clear what Lotte wants from Kim Tae-hyung. Having invested heavily in free agents ahead of this season, they want to see a strong team that can consistently make the postseason. For now, Kim Tae-hyung will be inaugurated on the 24th, followed by a meeting with the first- and second-team players, including prospective free agents, on the 25th.

It will be interesting to see what kind of team Lotte will be able to become now that someone who is in line with the ideals of owner Shin Dong-bin has taken the helm.