There will be no managerial shakeup this fall, but Lotte’s next head coach is on the front burner anyway.
온라인카지노Lotte ended the era of Larry Sutton on the 28th. Sutton was unable to manage the game against Busan KT on the 27th due to health issues. After the game, he contacted the club and announced his resignation, which the club accepted. However, there are many rumors about the club paying Sutton’s salary for the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, interest in Lotte’s next manager is heating up. For starters, Lotte has named assistant coach Lee Jong-woon as acting head coach, starting on Sept. 29 against Daejeon Hanwha. The team plans to finish the season with Lee Jong-woon as acting head coach and then begin the process of hiring a new head coach.
Lotte has 36 games left. If Lee Jong-woon shows impressive results and content in those 36 games, he will naturally become one of the candidates for the next head coach. Lee Jong-woon signed a three-year contract as head coach before the 2015 season, but was fired after just one season. However, Lotte has a history of parting ways with former managers Kang Byung-chul and Yang Sang-moon, only to reappoint them later.
Lotte acting head coach Lee Jong-woon/My Daily
There is no doubt that the top free agent manager this fall is SBS Sports commentator Kim Tae-hyung, who won 645 games in the KBO. Former Samsung, Kia, and national team manager Sun Dong-yeol also stands out among the big-name candidates. While the KBO has been trending toward hands-on and communicative managers since the mid-2010s, Lotte has generally stuck with big names. There’s nothing stopping them from making a surprise hire. In particular, commentator Kim Tae-hyung has a strong track record at Doosan and is a fan favorite.
In addition, current Lotte coaches and former Lotte coaches at other clubs will naturally be in the running. Since Jerry Royster, seven managers have worn the uniform in 13 years, from Yang Seung-ho to Kim Si-jin to Lee Jong-woon to Cho Ji-woo to Yang Sang-moon to Heo Mun-ho to Sutton. It’s a manager’s graveyard, but there’s no baseball player who wouldn’t go to his grave.
Former Lotte manager Larry Sutton/MyDale
On the one hand, it’s safe to say that there won’t be a major managerial shakeup in the KBO this fall. Lotte, KT, and Hanwha are the only teams whose contracts expire at the end of the season, but Hanwha has already parted ways with its previous manager and started fresh with Choi Won-ho. KT’s Lee Kang-cheol is still in the driver’s seat after his midseason turnaround. If they don’t fall apart in the postseason, he is expected to be re-signed.
LG’s Yeom Kyung-yup, SSG’s Kim Won-hyung, NC’s Kang Myung-hyun, Doosan’s Lee Seung-yeop, Samsung’s Park Jin-man, and Kiwoom’s Hong Won-ki are all in their first seasons under contract. Their positions could change depending on how they perform this year, but it’s unlikely they’ll be dropped after this season. KIA head coach Kim Jong-guk is in his second of three seasons. It is unlikely that he will not be able to fulfill his contract.
All in all, the KBO managerial market is not expected to change much this fall. That’s why Lotte’s new manager is more interesting.
SBS Sports commentator Kim Tae-hyung as Doosan manager/My Daily