KBO club Twins part ways with manager after postseason failures

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean baseball club LG Twins announced Friday they will not bring back manager Ryu Ji-hyun after two consecutive seasons of early postseason elimination.

Ryu's two-year deal with the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) team expired after the Twins' exit from the second round of the postseason at the end of October.

In this file photo from Oct. 5, 2022, LG Twins manager Ryu Ji-hyun watches his team in action against the Kia Tigers during the top of the third inning of a Korea Baseball Organization regular season game at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in Gwangju, 270 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)

The Twins said they will name a new manager "as soon as possible."

On Ryu's watch, the Twins went 159-113-16 (wins-losses-ties), the best record in the KBO in that stretch. But their Korean Series title drought has reached 28 years on his watch, as they were knocked out of the first round in 2021 and then the second round this year despite being the favorites on both occasions.

Their last Korean Series appearance came in 2002.

So far this offseason, three out of the 10 KBO clubs have named new managers. The Samsung Lions and the NC Dinos removed interim tags on Park Jin-man and Kang In-kwon, respectively, and the Doosan Bears newly hired Lee Seung-yuop.

Two managers currently battling in the Korean Series, Kim Won-hyong of the SSG Landers and Hong Won-ki of the Kiwoom Heroes, are in the final year of their contracts.