"The back of KIA's head in shock?"' Unprecedented reversal of retirement → 'Why' playing in the Mexican league, KIA also said, "I knew."" I did... Can other KBO teams be transferred

*This content was translated by AI.

Hong Won-bin (26), who announced his surprise retirement during the last season, has joined a club in the Mexican professional baseball league, drawing keen attention.

Mexican professional baseball club Tecolotes de los dos Laredos officially announced on the 4th (Korea time) that "right-hander Hong Won-bin, who played in the Korean professional baseball league (KBO League) and the Australian professional baseball (AUBL), joined the team during the pre-season."

Hong Won-bin's trip to the Mexican league is surprising news for baseball fans. It's because he announced his retirement last season.

Hong Won-bin is a player who has gone through many twists and turns. Hong Won-bin, who graduated from Anmalcho, Gangnam Middle School, and Deoksu High School, joined the KIA Tigers as the 10th overall pick in the first round in the second rookie draft in 2019. The down payment for joining was 130 million won.

Hong Won-bin, who has an overwhelming physique of 195cm and 101kg, drew great attention as a right-handed fireballer as soon as he joined the team. At an exhibition game in March last year, he threw a fastball with a maximum speed of 154 kilometers.

However, he rarely had a chance to play in the first team. As a result, Hong Won-bin has never made the first team stage in six years since joining the professional league. There was some regret on the control side.

Hong Won-bin pitched in a total of 31 games in the Futures League until the 2024 season, recording 2 wins and 15 losses with a 12.56 ERA. With 44 strikeouts in 71 ⅔ innings, four pitches reached a whopping 107 (92 walks and 15 hit balls).

The first opportunity for him to play in the first division came against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Stadium on June 3 last year. At that time, he made his dream debut in the first division by marking one hit, one walk, one strikeout, and one run (one earned run) in one inning. On June 10, he allowed one hit, three walks and four runs (four earned) in ⅔ innings. But that was it.

Hong Won-bin, who could no longer take the mound for the first team, decided to take off his uniform in September last year. At that time, the KIA team was deeply concerned about Hong Won-bin's retirement. However, Hong Won-bin's will was so firm. In the end, Kia accepted his request.

At the time, an official from KIA said, "Hong Won-bin himself seems to want to study the professional theory related to sports. Maybe I plan to go abroad and study. The club said they wanted to talk more several times, but they decided to respect the player's own and his parents' will.

KIA manager Lee Bum-ho, the head coach, also said about his retirement at the time, "I heard that he expressed his desire to study sports." I understand that the club has been dissuaded several times. However, he seems to have chosen that way because he is so strong in his will. I think you have to support him, he said. "It's very difficult to give up baseball that you've been playing for a long time and try something else again. Nevertheless, I think it is a great courage to go abroad and study. I'm not a baseball player, but a professor who teaches sports or I can go to that field, so I hope you study well and become a good sportsman," he said.

It was in January that he recently announced his recent status. But it wasn't news of my studies. A famous baseball training center in the U.S. has been released on social networking sites to show a high-speed ball, which can reach a maximum speed of 156 kilometers. When the news spread that a player who even retired, saying he was studying, threw the ball again, speculation poured out that he might have caught the back of KIA, which raised him. However, an KIA official told Star News at the time, "I was in constant contact with Hong Won-bin," adding, "I knew about his situation." That didn't mean that Hong Won-bin officially announced his intention to return to KIA.

Hong Won-bin is currently a voluntary withdrawal status. Therefore, it is not possible to play in the KBO League, as well as in the United States, Japan, and Taiwan, which have signed agreements with Korea, for one year from the date of the voluntary termination announcement. However, the Mexican league is not an agreement with South Korea. As a result, there are no restrictions on him playing in the Mexican league, which will open in April. If he didn't really want to retire, he might have had to choose a country other than the United States, Japan, or Taiwan, so there was no other alternative. However, if Hong Won-bin wants to return to the KBO league, he must return to his original club, KIA. September 30 last year is the date of his voluntary withdrawal. Will he continue his baseball career in the Mexican league. Or will he play in the Mexican league for a while and improve his skills before returning to the Korean stage.

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*This content was translated by AI.