As expected, the Lotte Giants’ choice was former Doosan Bears coach Kim Tae-hyung. 

On the 20th, Lotte officially announced, “Coach Kim Tae-hyung has been appointed as the 21st head coach.” The contract period is 3 years and the total amount is 2.4 billion won (600 million won down payment, 600 million won annual salary).

Speculation that Lotte would appoint coach Kim Tae-hyung was already raised during the season. Immediately after former Lotte coach Larry Sutton, who laid down his baton due to health reasons, was virtually dismissed at the end of August, rumors of the appointment of coach Kim Tae-hyung arose.  

Many Lotte fans also waited for news of the appointment of coach Kim Tae-hyung. This is because coach Kim Tae-hyung wants to replicate the performance and leadership he showed during his eight years at Doosan at Lotte. 

From 2015 to 2021, Coach Kim led the team to advance to the Korean Series for seven consecutive years, the longest in KBO League history. Among them, it reached the top three times in 2015, 2016, and 2019. 

The appointment of coach Kim Tae-hyung can be seen as a change in Lotte’s direction. In the past 10 years, Lotte has recruited novice coaches including Lee Jong-woon, Cho Won-woo, Heo Moon-hoe, and Sutton, except for former coach Yang Sang-moon. Most of them were ‘surprise appointments’. They also have something in common: they do not have a strong grip on players. On the other hand, coach Kim Tae-hyung has strong charisma and a fighting spirit.

Lee Kang-hoon, CEO of the Lotte Giants, said, “Of course, I think the club owner (Shin Dong-bin) also knew (that many fans want to appoint coach Kim Tae-hyung).” 

The appointment of coach Kim Tae-hyung strongly reflected the will of the team owner. In fact, director Taehyung Kim’s style does not match the color that the parent group has been pursuing so far. However, as they failed to reach the top of the Korean Series for the last time in 1992 and failed to advance to the postseason for the past six consecutive years, they decided to change their stance this time.메이저사이트

A club official said, “Owner Shin Dong-bin wanted the coach to be someone who could improve the team’s performance based on strong leadership and winning spirit, and provide more motivation by understanding the players’ strengths and weaknesses. CEO Lee Kang-hoon is the club’s owner. “We appointed director Kim Tae-hyung to reflect our intentions,” he said. Lotte received a paid-in capital increase of 19 billion won from Lotte Holdings in October last year, and has consistently exchanged opinions with the holding company in the process of appointing a director. After Director Sutton left, the process of selecting a new director began, and we continued to communicate with Director Kim Tae-hyung, and recently met and agreed to a contract. 

With the appointment of coach Kim Tae-hyung, Lotte ended its four-year run with general manager Sung Min-gyu. CEO Lee, who took office as the head of the Lotte Giants in December of last year, said, “I am still cautious regarding the appointment of a new general manager. I will tell you more as time goes by and I will tell you more.” He continued, “Many fans are looking forward to it. We must do better,” and promised, “I will prepare well with coach Kim Tae-hyung starting from this year’s closing camp to show a stronger side next season.” 

Coach Kim Tae-hyung also said, “I am well aware of the weight of the position of Lotte coach,” and pledged, “I am grateful to the fans and team owner Shin Dong-bin who chose me. I will repay the expectations of the fans who have waited for a long time and produce results.”