'Lotte's former general manager' Sung Min-gyu Samgo Chorye → Na Seung-yeop, who gave up his dream of entering the U.S., left an indelible stigma due to illegal gambling

*This content was translated by AI.

Lotte Giants' key hitter Na Seung-yeop (24) is embroiled in allegations that he visited an illegal gambling center during Taiwan's spring camp. The shock of this incident is doubling, as he wore a giant corps uniform after much consideration, even giving up his dream of entering the U.S. Major League. It is all the more regrettable that the military problem was solved early, so it is only left to establish itself in the first team.

Lotte club bowed its head on the 13th, issuing an apology for the incident. Lotte said, "First of all, I apologize for the concern caused by the team-related content. "We confirmed that Na Seung-yeop, Ko Seung-min, Kim Dong-hyuk, and Kim Se-min, who were confirmed as a result of interviews with players and finding facts, visited places that were classified as illegal in the country," he said.

Lotte then said, "Regardless of the reason, we will immediately return home four players who committed acts contrary to the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) and the club's internal rules," adding, "We will immediately report it to the KBO Clean Baseball Center, and the club will take corresponding measures depending on the results."

Lotte also said, "The club feels the current situation seriously. We will sternly deal with any additional confirmation through a full investigation. I also warned the entire team," he said. Finally, Lotte emphasized again, saying, "I apologize again by causing water."

Na Seung-yeop was a top prospect who was targeted by Major League scouts when he was a student at Deoksu High School. In order to catch him, who was likely to go to the Minnesota Twins at the time in 2020, former Lotte general manager Sung Min-gyu did not hesitate to "Three Gorges." There was talk of entering the U.S., but after a gambling-like strategy and persistent persuasion to exercise the second round of the 2021 rookie draft, he succeeded in changing Na's mind.

At the time, Sung Min-gyu, the general manager, told Star News, "We continued to meet right after the nomination. Since I was the head of the group, I have often met Na Seung-yeop's parents while traveling between Busan and Seoul. He also looked back on the persuasion process, saying, "I tried to build trust between each other rather than keep saying, 'When do we sign?'"

After solving the military problem with the Sangmu baseball team, Na Seung-yeop started the first team stage in earnest from the 2024 season. He successfully settled down with a batting average of 0.312 in 121 games in the 2024 season. He slowed down slightly with a batting average of 0.229 in 105 games in the 2025 season, but he started preparing early for a new rebound in the 2026 season. With Ko Seung-min, he even conducted training to correct the hitting mechanism at Tsukuba University.

But expectations cooled with a momentary mistake. Now hopes for the new season are turning to cold criticism and doubts. Baseball is paying keen attention to what fate Na Seung-yeop and other players involved will face depending on the level of disciplinary action by KBO and the club in the future.

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*This content was translated by AI.