“I can’t watch you for a whole month”
KIA officially announced on the 28th, “We suspended coach Kim Jong-guk from his duties,” adding, “We confirmed that Kim Jong-guk is under investigation by investigative authorities on the 25th, and finally confirmed this at a meeting with coach Kim China on the 27th. The club officially announced that it decided that it could not perform its duties normally as a coach during the investigation.”
After failing to advance to the postseason by ranking seventh in the 2019 season, Kia signed a three-year contract with Matt Williams, its first foreign coach in the club’s history. However, it has not rebounded under Williams. Kia ranked sixth in the 2020 season and ninth in the 2021 season, respectively. In response, Kia appointed Kim Jong-kook, the star of the “One Club Man” franchise, as its new head coach and gave him the baton.
Under the leadership of manager Kim Jong-kook, Kia has successfully secured a ticket to the fall stage for the first time in a long time. KIA successfully advanced to the post season by finishing the regular season in fifth place with 70 wins, 1 draw and 73 losses with a winning rate of 0.490. Although Kia has not advanced to a higher level, it was clear that it saw a “possible” to advance to the post season. However, it was not easy to advance to the post season for the second consecutive year. The reason is that a combination of unfavorable factors coincided with each other.
KIA’s “sign hitter” Na Sung-bum and Choi Hyung-woo, as well as “high-end promising players” Kim Do-young, Park Chan-ho, and Choi Won-jun, were truly injured. KIA struggled despite unfavorable factors and achieved a better record of 73 wins, 2 draws and 69 losses than the 2022 season, but ended the season in sixth place after trailing the Doosan Bears, who finished the season in fifth place by one game. After finishing the season amid disappointment, KIA was busy throughout the winter.
For starters, Kia has decided to replace all of its former foreign pitchers it once played with last year. As a result, it recruited Will Crow, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and James Nail, a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, to form one and two punches for foreigners. Moreover, it signed a three-year contract with Kim Sun-bin, a “house rabbit” who became a free agent, and a two-year contract with Ko Jong-wook, and a two-year contract worth a total of 3 billion won, and added Seo Geon-chang to prepare for the 2024 season.
After completing the plan, KIA was scheduled to leave for Canberra, Australia, through Incheon International Airport on the 30th to start soaking for the 2024 season, but two days before leaving the spring camp, the shocking news came. As it is the last season of a three-year contract, coach Kim Jong-guk’s job, who would have prepared for the season with more earnestness than anyone else, has been suspended. Initially, KIA did not reveal specific issues, but the reason for the suspension was due to allegations of bribery.
It is as if last year’s “nightmare” comes to mind. Just before the opening of the regular season last year, KIA’s former general manager Jang Jung-seok was embroiled in allegations of “back money.” While Park Dong-won, who now belongs to the LG Twins, and KIA were discussing extension contracts, Jang Jung-seok demanded “back money” from Park Dong-won. The incident was revealed to the surface by Park Dong-won at the time, and caused a big stir in the baseball world.
So far, details on what kind of issue Kim Jong-kook is suspected of taking bribes have yet to be disclosed. However, it is not a matter related to the recently-known independent league. What is clear, however, is that Kim Jong-kook was questioned by prosecutors on last Saturday. Manager Kim Jong-kook did not report it to the club, and KIA came to know that manager Kim Jong-kook was questioned by prosecutors through the information.
“First of all, it has nothing to do with the corruption of an independent league player to join a pro baseball team. Coach Kim Jong-kook clearly denied the allegation during an interview with the club. What the prosecution is investigating is different. We have to be cautious.”
Coach Kim Jong-guk is known to have insisted his innocence during a meeting with the club, but a question mark inevitably arises in that he did not inform the club first that he was investigated by the prosecution. Kia decided to suspend manager Kim Jong-guk from his duties as it judged that he could not perform his duties normally during the investigation. For now, Kia plans to hold spring camp under the leadership of Jin Gap-yong.
Then, what will happen to manager Kim Jong-guk? First of all, Kia is in a very difficult situation. This is because Kim Jong-guk’s allegations of bribery may or may not be true. If bribery is true, it is inevitable to be “hardened” or “voluntary resignation,” but if it is certain that he did not receive bribes, he will have no problem taking the helm of Kia in the 2024 season and continuing as a manager. We need to make a quick decision on two possibilities. 라바카지노
“We need to make a decision on Kim Jong-guk’s future as soon as possible. If the prosecution’s investigation takes more than a month, we can’t wait and see. If that happens, we will take action in any way possible,” a source at Kia said. It remains to be seen what kind of decision the Kia Tigers will make as Kim Jong-kook’s charges have yet to be confirmed.