SEOUL, - The South Korean baseball club Lotte Giants announced their hiring of new manager Kim Tae-hyoung on Friday.
The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) team said Kim, one of the most successful managers in recent years, has agreed to a three-year deal worth 2.4 billion won (US$1.8 million). Kim took 600 million won in signing bonus and will earn 600 million won each season in annual salary.
Kim, 56, enjoyed a record-setting run in his previous managerial stint with the Doosan Bears from 2015 to 2022. They played in seven consecutive Korean Series from 2015 to 2021, the longest such streak in KBO history, and won championships in 2015, 2016 and 2019.
Kim spent the 2023 season as an analyst on cable television.
The Giants have gone through multiple managerial changes in recent years in pursuit of their first title since 1992. They have played in the postseason just once in the past 11 seasons.
In 2023, Giants manager Larry Sutton stepped down in August, citing health reasons, and under interim skipper Lee Jong-un, the Giants finished in seventh place, seven games out of the final postseason spot at 68-76.
The Giants will hold Kim's inauguration ceremony Tuesday, and the new manager will meet with his team the following day.
In another offseason change, the Giants parted ways with general manager Sung Min-kyu, who'd been in that position since September 2019.
Source: Yonhap News Agency