Should KIA and Nail renew their contracts for a long time? I can't wait..."→Teshyeong's 4th consecutive year of companionship question mark."
Should KIA and Nail renew their contracts for a long time? I can't wait..."→Teshyeong's 4th consecutive year of companionship question mark."
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Will the renewal of contract with foreign pitcher James Nail, who contributed the most to the V12 KIA Tigers, lead to a long-term game? With experts predicting that it will be difficult to sign a contract to guarantee rotation of starting pitchers in the Major League, the Kia team is also closely monitoring Nail's movements. Question marks are also drawn over the accompanying foreign batter Socrates Brito for the fourth consecutive year.스포츠토토
Having dominated the mound in the KBO League in the 2024 season, Nail took on the role of Kia's first starting pitcher with a combination of two-seam fastball and a sweeper. During his 26 games (149.1 innings) in the 2024 season, Nail posted 12 wins and five losses with a 2.53 ERA, 138 strikeouts, 35 walks, and a WHIP of 1.27. The title of ERA also went to Nail.
In late August, Nail suffered an unfortunate injury of a broken jaw due to an opponent's batting during the game. Despite the prospect of being out of the season, Nail joined the Korean Series entry with a monster resilience.
In the first game of the Korean Series, Nail started the game and gave up four hits, six strikeouts, two walks, and one run in five innings. Nail took the mound as the starting pitcher for Game 4 of the Korean Series after a four-day rest due to a rain-suspended game. In Game 4, Nail allowed six hits, seven strikeouts, one out and two runs in 5.2 innings to achieve her first Korean Series start.
KIA was greatly encouraged by Nail's performance during the course of winning the regular season and the Korean Series. Without Nail, it would have been in fog whether Nail would have won the combined title in 2024. Attention is now focusing on whether Nail will be able to be with KIA in the 2025 season. Nail has received great attention from Major League teams throughout the 2024 season. Notably, Nail is expected to be highly competitive as a bullpen pitcher.
However, from Nail's point of view, a guaranteed starting contract is more attractive than a bullpen pitcher. If he is offered a Major League contract as a bullpen pitcher, it would be better for him to renew his contract and show his competitiveness as a starting pitcher again in the 2025 season by wearing a KIA uniform.
KIA teams are also closely watching the negotiation table between Nail and Major League teams, with the amount of the renewal proposal outlined to some extent.
"Nail doesn't seem to be in a hurry either. As he is a player who needs to be caught somehow, he should spend the time talking to the maximum conditions that our team can give him and compromising on it," a Kia source said. "I think we can wait until the Major League Winter Meeting takes place in early December. Even so, we can't just wait until the end of the year-end games."
He is still agonizing over renewing his contract with Socrates. Socrates, who joined the team in the 2022 season and played in the KBO for three years, played in 140 games in the 2024 season with a batting average of 0.310, 171 hits, 26 homers, 97 RBIs, 0.359 on-base percentage and 0.516 slugging percentage, which was the best performance since his debut in Korea. Socrates also played in five games with a batting average of 0.300, six hits, one homerun, five RBIs, two walks and five runs scored.
A source at Kia said, "Socrates has yet to decide whether to renew his contract. The team's data team is in the process of collecting data on Socrates' renewal. The decision to renew his contract last year was also largely influenced by the opinion of the data team. We will discuss the renewal of contract next year in detail after seeing the results of the data team's work."
KIA lost its power by missing internal FA pitcher Jang Hyun-sik in the FA market this winter. As the defending champion in the 2025 season, it has become more urgent to strengthen its power in order to challenge for the second consecutive time. In the end, the results of the reinforcement of power will vary greatly depending on whether foreign players renew their contracts and the results. I wonder how the conclusion will come out along with the direction of Nail and Socrates' renewal.