Shim Woo-joon (29), who was the biggest shortstop in the stove league, has succeeded in signing a more than expected "jackpot FA contract" with the Hanwha Eagles with a total of 5 billion won for four years. Due to Shim Woo-joon's contract, the name of Park Chan-ho (29), who was born in 1995, is being summoned. Park Chan-ho, who once competed with Shim Woo-joon for the lowest batting average, is now the "300 shortstop" for two consecutive years, will be eligible for FA when the 2025 season is over.메이저놀이터

Shim Woo-joon and Park Chan-ho, who were in the same period as the 2014 draft, have drawn attention as future leaders of KT and KIA teams. Park Chan-ho (2014) made his debut early, but Shim stood out first. Shim gained experience by playing in 106 games in his first season in the first division (2015) and Shim gradually expanded his position between shortstop and third baseman in 2016 (122 games) and 2017 (103 games), and took over as the main shortstop position from 2018.

On the other hand, Park Chan-ho played in 155 games during the first three seasons (2014-2016) and posted a batting average of 0.169 (34 hits in 201 at-bats) and nine RBIs. Park Chan-ho, who joined the active military in 2017 and had a two-season hiatus, jumped into a starting player with a batting average of 0.260 with two home runs, 49 RBIs and 39 steals (ranking first in the league) in 133 games in 2019. In the same year, Shim Woo-joon also firmly secured the position of KT's main shortstop with a batting average of 0.279 with three home runs, 28 RBIs and 24 steals in 138 games.

The year 2020 has become a season that the two players want to forget. Shim had 35 steals in 144 games to win the title, but he ranked 52nd among 53 batters who filled the batter's box with a batting average of 0.235. Park Chan-ho, who took over the starting shortstop position for Kia, ranked the lowest in the league with a batting average of 0.223 in 141 games.

Since then, the two players have posted somewhat mixed performances. Shim Woo-joon seemed to be recovering a bit with a batting average of 0.268 in 2021, but slowed down again to 0.240 in 2022, ranking last in the batting average (53rd out of 53 at-bats). On the other hand, Park Chan-ho, who remained at the bottom with a batting average of 0.246 in 2021, showed his improved batting ability to 0.272 in 2022, and won the title of the second stealer with 42 steals.

While Shim Woo-joon was on hiatus due to joining the military, Park Chan-ho has improved further. He recorded a batting average of 0.301 with three home runs, 52 RBIs and 30 steals in 130 games in 2023, recording a batting average of .300 and an OPS of .7 or higher for the first time since his debut. Based on his performance, Park received 120 out of 291 valid votes in the Golden Glove voting, ranking second with 34 votes behind Oh Ji-hwan (154 votes, LG Twins). Park Chan-ho, who celebrated Oh's win by participating in the ceremony, also revealed his commitment to win the Golden Glove award in the 2024 season.

This season, Park renewed his career high with a batting average of 0.307 with five homers and 61 RBIs in 134 games and an OPS of 0.749. He also contributed to Kia's overall win, raising the possibility that he could achieve his dream of winning the Golden Glove Award at the award ceremony a year ago.

Shim Woo-joon, who resolved his mandatory military service at Sangmu while Park Chan-ho was on a roll for the past two years, was discharged from the military service in July this year, and immediately helped KT's first team strength from the second half of this year. Shim, who played in 53 games with a batting average of 0.266, three homers, 28 RBIs, and seven steals, applied for an FA, which was postponed to join the army, and entered the market, winning a four-year, large contract of 5 billion won (approx.

As Shim Woo-joon, who was considered a "defensive shortstop," hit a jackpot, attention is being paid to the ransom of Park Chan-ho, a "300 shortstop" who will become a free agent a year later. In a video released on YouTube channel "Basegura" on the 13th, legendary "Sniper" Jang Sung-ho, KBSN commentator, predicted that Park Chan-ho will be able to sign a large contract in the Stove League next year. "Park Chan-ho, who is the same age as Shim Woo-joon, who was born in 1995, unconditionally costs more than 5 billion won. It cannot be called less than 5 billion won for four years. This is natural," Jang said. "Park Chan-ho won the steal twice and hit .300 twice (batting rate). He has a much better batting average than Shim Woo-joon, but he is the same age. I think he will start from 6 billion won for four years, not 5 billion won."

Park Chan-ho, who has become the league's top shortstop equipped with balls, numbers, and stocks by batting average of more than 30% for two consecutive years, is expected to easily surpass Shim Woo-joon's contract worth 5 billion won for four years, unless he falls into a sudden slump in the 2025 season. Attention is already focusing on whether Kia will bring up its non-FA multi-year contract card to prevent leakage of its key shortstop, or whether Park Chan-ho will be in the FA market in 2025 and receive keen attention.