Are local clubs the independence army of autumn?
Local clubs have only been invited to the postseason for the last four seasons in a row. It was NC in 2019 and 2020, Samsung in 2021, and KIA in 2022. NC returned to the postseason in 2019 after overcoming the bottom pain in 2018, and laid a stepping stone to the combined championship in 2020.
Samsung was baseball in the fall of 2021, ending the dark period that had been going on since 2016. KIA also played the postseason in 4 years after 2018, laying the foundation for a new leap forward. It was a meaningful postseason for NC, Samsung, and KIA. But even in the midst of that, Lotte and Hanwha continued to be onlookers.
2017 for Lotte and 2018 for Hanwha were the last postseason. Both teams were mostly at the bottom in the 2010s. For Lotte, 2017 was the only fall baseball since 2010-2012, and for Hanwha, except for 2018, the 2010s are annihilated.
In 2015 (Samsung, NC) and 2016 (NC, KIA), when the postseason advancement was reorganized into five teams, two local clubs competed for strength. Afterwards, in 2017, when KIA won the championship, three regional teams, including Lotte and NC, played fall baseball together. In 2018, there were Hanwha and KIA. However, after that, regional clubs lost their competitiveness in fall baseball. After the end of the Samsung Dynasty, regional clubs won the Korean Series only in 2017 KIA and 2020 NC.
▲PS 5 team system fall baseball protagonist
2015 season-Doosan/Samsung/NC/Nexen/SK
2016 season-Doosan/NC/Nexen/LG/KIA
2017 season-KIA/Doosan/Lotte/NC/SK
2018 season-SK/Doosan/Hanwha/Nexen/KIA
2019 season-Doosan/Kiwoom/SK/LG/NC
2020 season-NC/Doosan/KT/LG/Kiwoom
2021 season -KT/Doosan/Samsung/LG/Kiwoom
2022 season-SSG/Kiwoom/LG/KT/KIA
The general opinion is that it is difficult to accept the phenomenon of the postseason flowing into a party centered on clubs in the metropolitan area as a 100% coincidence. The fact that the KBO abolished the primary nomination for the hometown and reintroduced the full draft is not irrelevant to this phenomenon. It is pointed out that a lot of good young guns are gathered in the metropolitan area, and naturally, there is a high possibility that clubs in the metropolitan area will be more likely to gain momentum in nurturing players than regional clubs.
In fact, a high-ranking official from a provincial club immediately after last year’s draft said, “If there was a first nomination this year (2022), Seoul High School Kim Seo-hyun (Hanwha) or Chungam High School Yoon Young-cheol (KIA) would have gone to LG, Doosan, or Kiwoom again. There are obviously difficulties with local clubs.” There are more players who want to play baseball in the metropolitan area than in the provinces, and of course, there are more top-notch prospects in the metropolitan area than in the provinces. It is pointed out that they also prefer the metropolitan area over the province.
Even this official said, “There is clearly a premium in the metropolitan area in the FA market. If the price is similar, I would rather go to the metropolitan area rather than the province. It makes sense. Married life is the same, and if you want to raise a child, don’t you want to go to the Seoul club rather than the provinces?” Not to mention FA, it is said that most of the players who received offers from multiple clubs in the releaser market choose clubs in the metropolitan area. It was like that this time too. 메이저사이트
To address this phenomenon, the front draft was reintroduced. Furthermore, it is pointed out that regional clubs must be thorough in establishing a master plan to strengthen their strength and challenge to win the Korean Series. First of all, in the 2022-2023 FA market, local Lotte (Yoo Gang-nam, No Jin-hyuk) and Hanwha (Chae Eun-seong, Lee Tae-yang, Oh Seon-jin) recruited a large number of external free agents and renewed the atmosphere. On the other hand, Samsung, KIA, and NC did not have much fun in the FA market. However, basic power is never bad.
What about the 2023 season? Historically, no team has ever been the same in the postseason for two consecutive years. Local clubs can also challenge to win the Korean Series only when they knock on the door of the postseason steadily. First of all, an atmosphere was created in which local clubs could counterattack.