Hanwha Eagles' New Manager Kim Kyung-moon, Former National Team Coach... 3 Years, 2 Billion KRW

Former Hanwha Manager Choi Won-ho Resigned Last Month Due to Poor Performance
New Manager Kim to Lead First Game Against Suwon KT Wiz on the 4th

Hanwha Eagles have appointed Kim Kyung-moon (65), former manager of the South Korean national baseball team, as their new manager.

On the 2nd, Hanwha announced that they signed a three-year contract worth a total of 2 billion KRW (500 million KRW signing bonus, 1.5 billion KRW annual salary) with former manager Kim.

Former baseball national team manager Kim Kyung-moon. [Photo by Yonhap News]

This comes exactly one week after former manager Choi Won-ho announced his resignation on the 23rd of last month due to poor performance, and the club accepted it on the 26th.

Newly appointed manager Kim Kyung-moon expressed through the club, "It is an immense honor to take on the role of Hanwha manager. Hanwha has many young and promising players, and recently, veterans have been added, making the team even stronger. I will join forces with the coaches and players to show the fans great baseball."

The Hanwha club explained the reason for the appointment, saying, "We judged that Kim Kyung-moon, who has abundant experience and wisdom, is the right person to develop the team. He possesses the optimal capability to stabilize the unsettled roster and achieve the club's goals."

Regarding the goals for the remainder of the season, they said, "With the recent upward trend, there is not much difference from the mid-tier teams, and many games are still left. The manager will also do his best to achieve the club's goal of reaching the postseason."

When asked if there were other candidates besides Kim, the club stated, "Our club's key personnel do not usually proceed with a single candidate. Typically, a list of 3 to 5 candidates is narrowed down," but added, "Since the new manager has been appointed, it is difficult to provide specific details."

Manager Kim plans to continue working with the existing coaching staff without restructuring.

Kim will hold his inauguration ceremony at 2 p.m. on the 3rd at Daejeon Hanwha Life Eagles Park and will immediately take the helm starting with the game against the Suwon KT Wiz on the 4th.

Kim led the national baseball team to a historic '9 wins, no losses' gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. However, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where they participated as defending champions, the team finished 4th and failed to win a medal.

As a KBO League manager, Kim has extensive experience, recording 896 wins, 30 draws, and 774 losses over 14 seasons. He managed 960 games with the Doosan Bears and 740 games with the NC Dinos.

Starting his managerial career with Doosan in 2004, except for 2006, he led the team to the postseason every season until 2010, achieving runner-up finishes in 2005, 2007, and 2008.

From 2011, he became the inaugural manager of the 9th professional baseball team, NC. Under his leadership, NC performed well, finishing 7th in their first year in the first division in 2013, 3rd in 2014 and 2015, 2nd in 2016, and 4th in 2017, maintaining a top-tier position.

However, the 'blemish' in Kim's managerial career is that despite 14 seasons, he never won the Korean Series championship, finishing as runner-up four times.

A former catcher, Kim spent most of his playing career with OB, the predecessor of Doosan. Due to injuries sustained during his amateur days, he never became a top-tier player.

Hanwha aims to rebound in the 2024 season with veteran manager Kim at the helm. Before this season, Hanwha brought back Ryu Hyun-jin from the Major Leagues after 12 years and recently acquired free agents such as Chae Eun-sung, Lee Tae-yang, and Ahn Chi-hong, but they have not escaped the lower ranks. Although they started the season with a seven-game winning streak, both offense and defense soon struggled, leaving them competing for last place.

In the past five years, Hanwha has finished last three times and 9th twice. Their only postseason appearance in the last 15 years since 2009 was in 2018.

Therefore, attention is focused on whether manager Kim can break the harsh pattern where the previous four managers did not complete their terms and resigned. Before former manager Choi, managers Kim Sung-keun (10th-12th), Han Yong-duk, and Carlos Subero all left the team mid-season. The 9th manager Kim Eung-yong completed his two-year term, while the 8th manager Han Dae-hwa was dismissed mid-season due to poor performance.