There was no Christmas present. The five FA contracts, which have yet to find their destination, are expected to end the year.안전놀이터

Starting with the renewal of contract between Woo Kyu-min and KT Wiz on June 6, this year's stove league has been hot. Choi Jeong (SSG Landers), Um Sang-baek (Hanwha Eagles), Kim Won-joong (Lotte Giants), and Choi Won-tae (Samsung Lions) visited their respective teams. Lim Jung-ho (NC Dinos), Ryu Ji-hyuk, Kim Heon-gon (Samsung), and Lim Ki-young (KIA Tigers), who had been somewhat distant from the market's interest, have also signed contracts with their original teams to spend the end of the year.

In the meantime, each club has almost finished composing foreigners for the 2025 season. Currently, 29 foreign players have signed contracts, and official announcement of the remaining positions of Kia's foreign hitters is said to be imminent.

In the meantime, there are still players who are still facing the cold wind in the market. Lee Yong-chan, Ha Joo-seok (grade B), Seo Geon-chang, Kim Sung-wook and Moon Sung-hyun (grade C) came out for evaluation by the stove league market, but they have yet to find their destination. Lim Ki-young, whose future was unclear on the 21st, signed a surprise contract with his original team KIA, raising expectations that another FA contract could break at the end of the year, but no further news was heard.

Lee Yong-chan, who played as NC's guardian with 29 saves until just last year, suddenly lost his pace in the second half of this year. Until the first half of the year, he recorded 3 wins, 5 losses, 14 saves and 2 holds in 39 games, showing stable performance with an ERA of 2.77, but his ERA surged in August (29.08) and September (15.19), giving up Kim Jae-yeol the finishing position at the end of the season.

Ha Joo-seok, who was the mainstay of the team enough to be the captain of the 2022 season, lost his career in November 2022 when he was caught driving under the influence of alcohol. At that time, he was suspended for 70 games and played 25 games in 2023 but failed to find a sense of practice even after returning to the disciplinary action and ended the season with a batting average of 0.114 (4 hits in 35 at-bats). This year, he was also on the injured list due to a hamstring injury, recording a batting average of 0.292 (40 hits in 137 at-bats) and one home run and 11 RBIs in 64 games. Even so, Ha Joo-seok, who had been embroiled in controversy over the walk ceremony before, is being shunned by the market due to controversy and poor performance.

Once one of the best hitters in the league, Seo applied for the first free agent after four moves. This year, he successfully rebounded by batting .310 (63 hits in 203 at-bats) with one homer and 26 RBIs in 94 games. However, he has lost interest in the market due to his young age and limited position at age 36 next year.

Kim Sung-wook has strong slugging power to the extent that he has the most home runs (17 home runs) and the second most RBIs (60 RBIs) among the league's center field this year, but he showed a fatal weakness in accuracy with a batting average of 0.204. Although it was predicted that he would be a target for a team aiming for a right-handed outfielder with his consistent center field defense, the possibility of remaining in the original team increased as clubs, which were considered leading destinations, quenched their thirst for outfielders through other methods such as recruiting foreigners.

Moon Sung-hyun was a key bullpen resource in the team that once played as a must-win team for the Kiwoom Heroes, but suffered ups and downs this year with 42 games with one win, two losses, three saves and two holds with an ERA of 6.57. Since he is 33 years old, it is unclear not only his transfer but also his contract renewal with his original team, Kiwoom, which is currently trying to rebuild.

Each club will immediately start its spring camp to prepare for the next season one month from now. Since it is the last time to check players' capacity before an exhibition game, most clubs finish composing their power before the spring camp. In other words, players who remain in the market will be excluded from the club's plan as the spring camp approaches.

In the last stove league, 10 out of 19 players who signed FA contracts passed the year and stamped their contracts. In the end, it remains to be seen whether the five FA players, who did not receive Christmas gifts, will be able to receive "New Year's gifts" with new contracts before the spring camp.