KBO's worst club replaces general manager

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Yonhap) -- The Hanwha Eagles, the worst team in South Korean baseball for three years running, replaced their general manager Thursday.

The Eagles promoted their performance improvement coordinator Son Hyuk to the GM position, handing him a three-year contract hours after announcing the decision not to bring back Jeong Min-chul, who had been in the GM seat since October 2019.

Son, 49, had been the manager of another Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) team, Kiwoom Heroes, in 2020 before joining the Eagles in the coordinator role. In earlier years, the former KBO and U.S. minor league pitcher had worked as pitching coach for the Heroes and the SK Wyverns.

"I believe my job is to help promising young players grow into core members of the ball club," Son said. "I will support the coaching staff the best I can to improve the team."

The Eagles said Son had a positive influence on the team's pitching staff as the coordinator, helping pitchers improve their mechanics and delivery, and stabilizing the bullpen situation.

"During his 10 months with us, Son Hyuk developed a deep understanding of our ball club's situation and the direction we'd like to take," the Eagles said in a statement. "He has a keen interest in data analysis, and he should create positive synergy with our science-based player development system."

The Eagles finished in last place in all three seasons of Jeong's tenure. This year, they went 46-96-2 (wins-losses-ties) to finish 23.5 games out of the final playoff spot.

The Daejeon-based Eagles have made the postseason just once in the past 15 seasons.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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