The KIA Tigers is preparing to write another successful case of recruiting a preliminary FA trade. The main character is Cho Sang-woo (30), a fastball pitcher who already reserved a spot in the must-win group.

KIA announced a trade on the 19th that gave 1 billion won in cash and the first and fourth rounds of 2026 to Kiwoom Heroes and received Cho Sang-woo. It was as eye-catching news as any big-time FA contract. It was the moment when Cho Sang-woo's transfer, which had been mentioned as the best sale of the trade throughout this season, became a reality, not a rumor, and it was a trade that read a message that KIA would make every effort to win for the second consecutive year.토토사이트

KIA has enjoyed a considerable amount of profit by acquiring prospective free agents through trade. KIA has immediately increased its performance by filling in insufficient positions, while its player has been guaranteed a chance at Kia to maximize its ransom. That was exactly the case with catcher Park Dong-won (34, LG Twins) in 2022, and catcher Kim Tae-gun (35, KIA) in 2023.

KIA gave infielder Kim Tae-jin (29) and 1 billion won in cash and the second round of the 2023 rookie nomination to Kiwoom in April 2022 and brought in Park Dong-won. While Park failed to foster the catcher, it was not easy to survive in the round of 5 without his wife. With Park joining the team, Kia has found a much more stable position in offense and defense, and has come to fruition by advancing to the fall baseball league as a chin-up for fifth place. In 112 games that he played for KIA, Park recorded a batting average of 0.244 (86 hits in 352 times at bat), 17 homers, 53 RBIs and an OPS of 0.773.

Park was able to increase his ransom thanks to six months spent by Kia. KIA tried to keep Park in check but failed to crack down before entering the free agent market and eventually lost his hard-won wife to the LG Twins. Park was well received when he signed a four-year contract worth 6.5 billion with LG.

Taking advantage of Park Dong-won's success story, Kia recruited Kim Tae-gun in July last year. It was a one-on-one trade that gave up infielder Ryu Ji-hyuk (30), bringing Kim Tae-gun, who had not had many chances to play as a backup for the Samsung Lions, as a starting player.

As a veteran, Kim quickly integrated into KIA, and stably led the pitchers. It was a good recruitment for catcher Han Jun-su (25) to buy time for his growth and share the burden of defense.

As soon as Kim Tae-gun finished the last season, he signed a multi-year non-FA contract with KIA for a total of 2.5 billion won for three years. When Kim Tae-gun became the first FA after the 2019 season, he swallowed his disappointment by signing a four-year contract of up to 1.3 billion won with his original team NC Dinos, but rather, he made an unusual move by signing a larger contract when he was classified as an veteran four years later. Kim Tae-gun contributed to the victory of this year's Korean Series, the second year of KIA's transfer, and hugged pitcher Jung Hae-young (23).

Cho is preparing to join Kia as a successful case of recruiting a preliminary FA trade following Park Dong-won and Kim Tae-gun. Kia lost its internal FA Jang Hyun-sik (29) to LG and blocked a big hole in its must-win group with Cho. Cho is a former save king (33) in 2020, and is one of the league's best bullpens with 88 saves in total.

Kia recruited Cho Sang-woo and had him undergo a hospital examination on the 20th, a day later, leaving him with no signs of discomfort. Cho Sang-woo was concerned about his health in August due to shoulder pain. When Shim Jae-hak, the general manager of KIA, heard that Cho Sang-woo was preparing for the Driveline Training Center, a pitching training center in Seattle, the U.S., he was convinced that there was no health problem, but he made it a little more clear while conducting medical tests. MRI examination of both right shoulder and elbow showed that they were clean without any specific findings.

Cho Sang-woo will hold individual training sessions at his own expense for a month in the U.S. If effective, he will be able to write a life-changing drama for KIA like Park Dong-won and Kim Tae-gun.

Cho Sang-woo said, "I thought I exercised hard and built my body well while serving in the military, but it wasn't as good as I thought. My body feels better, but I'm going to study why I couldn't use more strength. They say they tell me a lot about how to use strength in the drive-in. I'm trying to find more images when I feel good while thinking about those things," and promised to set the stage for a rebound.