National baseball team manager calls for drafting Oh Seung-hwan

National baseball team manager calls for drafting Oh Seung-hwan. January. 05, 2017 07:13. by Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com. While his official announcement has been delayed, coach Kim once again expressed his strong will. National baseball team manager Kim In-sik reiterated the need to draft St. Louis Cardinals closing pitcher Oh Seung-hwan, who is at the center of controversy whether he is entitled to wear the national team uniform.

After a Wednesday meeting with coaching staff members including the batting coach Lee Soon-cheol, pitching coach Sun Dong-yeol and others at the Baseball Hall located in southern Seoul, the national team coach hinted the possible draft, saying, "Oh is no doubt a vital player. He also spoke through his agent that he will do his best when joining the team. If Oh is to be drafted, he needs to be on board as soon as possible.” As an old hard-bitten coach, Kim added, “There are so many barriers in setting up this year’s team, and this is why I need full cooperation from all the stakeholders.”

Oh Seung-hwan even failed to list his name on the 50 pre-entry due to the recent overseas gambling issue. Still, the possibility of getting drafted was constantly raised, as the national team is currently poorly prepared. While only two months are left before the competition begins, SK Wyverns starting pitcher Kim Gwang-hyun is scheduled to undergo elbow surgery, and Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Kang Jung-ho was excluded in the first place after his drink-and-drive accident. What’s worse, Lotte Giants catcher Kang Min-ho recently suffered from a knee injury. As a result, the names of the three players were removed from the 28 entry list. Moreover, Doosan Bears pitcher Lee Yong-chan also recently left the mound due to the elbow injury. Korean Major leaguers Choo Shin-soo and Kim Hyun-soo are expected to encounter objections from their clubs, and uncertainty prevails over their possible draft.

With an increasing number of players under injury, Oh remains as an attractive alternative given that he already proved his skills in the Major League and shows good condition. While Kim is still left with the mission to persuade his team, there are sayings that Kim and other coaching staff members agreed on drafting Oh after the internal meeting. There were even speculations before the Wednesday meeting that Kim may officially announce the drafting of Oh.

Despite such high hopes, Kim is hesitating due to controversy over whether Oh is eligible to wear the national flag stitched on the national uniform. Furthermore, Kim will not be free from public resentment that his decision is meritocratic. Some may raise eyebrows on Kim’s inconsistent drafting policy, as Kang Jung-ho was excluded but Oh gets a free ride. Indeed, Kim will be burdened by the fact that he needs to take back his previous decision to rule out Oh from the pre-entry list.

Meanwhile, others argue that Oh already paid for his misdeeds after paying the penalty. One Korean baseball official said, “The Korea Baseball Organization’s disciplinary committee only suspended 50 percent of the total league games, and there is no supporting evidence to exclude Oh from the entry list.” Some also sympathized that Oh needs to get his chance to recover his reputation on the mound.

Amid the ongoing controversy, it is predicted that the final decisions will be made after the next Wednesday’s team meeting. Kim is also planning to replace his pitcher after thoroughly checking Kia Tigers pitcher Yang Hyun-jong who is believed to be rehabilitating from his shoulder injury.