Kim Min-soo of the LG Twins was preparing for off-season training as a Lotte Giants player even after the brightness of the 2024. He was excluded from the list of campers for the first team in Guam and was supposed to train in the second team. However, the trade took place just five days before the spring camp. On Jan. 26, FA Kim Min-sung moved to the Lotte Giants through sign-and-trade, and Kim Min-soo moved to LG as a trade card.
He was included in LG’s first team Arizona camp list and hurriedly moved to the U.S. He needs a utility infielder to replace Kim Min-sung at LG. The fact that the team was upgraded to the first team camp at Lotte is a positive part for Kim this season.
Kim Min-soo was a promising player who graduated from Jemulpo High School in Incheon and joined the Lotte Giants in the second round in 2017. He served in the police force as a member of the youth team and even played in the Australian League as a member of the Korean pro league. However, he has not displayed his capability for sure. Until last year, he played in 188 games in the first division, recording a batting average of 240, 106 hits, three homers and an OPS of 0.630 (on-base plus 0.317) while playing in a total of 304 games in the second division, recording a batting average of 2903 with 252 hits, 37 homers, 163 RBIs and an OPS of 0.876 (on-base plus 0.488).
LG judged that Kim Min-soo is an infielder who has a great advantage in hitting, and has excellent handling in defense and compliance with throwing ability.
Kim Min-soo apologized to the Lotte fans who left. When asked by reporters if he had anything to say to Lotte fans, Kim Min-soo said, “I have nothing to say even if I have ten mouths.” Kim Min-soo said, “If I had done well, I wouldn’t have been traded,” adding, “The club that gave me a chance would have wanted something from me, and the fans must have expected me to play, but I’m sorry that I didn’t meet it.”
He said he felt the love of Lotte fans once again after being traded. “I knew I was loved by fans, but when I was traded, I got a lot of calls and DMs came,” Kim Min-soo said. “I felt grateful and sorry when I saw that, I felt that I was receiving more love.”
Will Kim Min-soo, who failed to emerge from the Lotte Giants, be able to prove his talent? “I don’t think I will feel any pressure to defend myself,” Kim said. “I want to be a player who makes up for my shortcomings and scrapes whenever I feel itchy.”