KBO's two worst teams make 1-for-1 trade

All Headlines 11:05 June 18, 2020

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, June 18 (Yonhap) -- The two worst teams in South Korean baseball made a trade on Thursday.

The last-place Hanwha Eagles dealt reliever Lee Tae-yang to the No. 9 club SK Wyverns in exchange for outfielder Ro Soo-kwang, the two Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) clubs announced.

Lee, 29, is a right-hander who has started and pitched out of the bullpen in eight KBO seasons. In seven relief appearances this season, Lee has a 7.27 ERA without a win-loss record.

In this file photo from May 28, 2020, Ro Soo-kwang of the SK Wyverns hits a groundball to shortstop against the Doosan Bears during a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Seoul. (Yonhap)

Lee enjoyed his best season in 2018, when he went 4-2 with a 2.84 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 79 1/3 innings, helping the Eagles to their first postseason appearance in 11 years.

Ro is rejoining the team that signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and traded him to the Kia Tigers in 2015. The 29-year-old speedster then went to the Wyverns in an eight-player trade in 2017, and posted his most productive season in 2018. He batted .313/.383/.431 that year while stealing 25 bases. He also set career highs with eight home runs, 21 doubles, eight triples and 53 RBIs.

So far in 2020, Ro has batted .267 with just two steals and a .329 on-base percentage from the top of the lineup.

The Eagles recently ended an 18-game losing streak, tied for the longest slide in league history, but have dropped the first two games of this week to fall to 9-29 for the season. The Wyverns, only two years removed from a championship season, suffered a 10-game losing skid last month and are 12-25.