Oh, my. "Trade Rumor" Son Ah Seop disappeared→In the first and even the second... What the hell is going on in Hanwha?

*This content was translated by AI.

Hanwha Eagles veteran outfielder Son Ah-seop (38, Hanwha Eagles), who has recently been embroiled in trade rumors, is not playing in the first division as well as in the second division. At this rate, it is expected to give up the No. 1 spot in the KBO league's most hits category soon.

Son Ah-seop exercised his sacred free agent (FA) right after the end of last season. But the team looking for him didn't show up. In the end, he remained with Hanwha, his original club, under the condition of 100 million won per year.

Son Ah-seop was named in the opening entry of the 2026 season, raising expectations for his performance this season. Although he was excluded from the starting lineup, he also played in the opening game against the Kiwoom Heroes. He was replaced by a pinch hitter and played one at-bat on the ground.

At the time, coach Kim said about Son Ah-seop's joining in the opening entry, "In terms of hitting, he is much better than his juniors. He said, "The movement is slightly less than before, but the ability to solve at-bat when faced with a situation is better than the juniors," adding, "However, the pitchers are still missing first, so I registered like this in the entry." In Hanwha's outfield, Jonathan Peraza, Moon Hyun-bin, and Oh Jae-won are currently holding out.

That's all for Son Ah-seop's opportunity. In the end, Son Ah-seop was removed from the first team entry on the 30th of last month, while he was listed in the first team entry only for the opening two consecutive games.

Since then, Son has played three games in the Futures League. His grades were not bad, either. a three-game hitting streak. He entered the eighth at-bat and hit three hits, including a double. He walked two and struck out once. In the matches against the SSG Landers Futures team on the 4th and 5th, he played one hit and one point in two at-bats, respectively. He then marked one hit and one score from four times at bat in the match against the Goyang Heroes on the 10th.

Son Ah-seop, who did, has not played at all in the Futures League recently. The Hanwha Futures team played three consecutive games against the LG Twins Futures team from April 11-13, with Son Ah-seop missing at all without playing as a pinch-hitter and a logistical guard. Recently, he has been embroiled in a trade rumors with a club in the Seoul metropolitan area that needs outfielders.

As Son Ah-seop is out of the first team, the No. 1 spot for the most hits in the KBO league is also threatened. Choi Hyung-woo (43, Samsung Lions) recorded his 2,599th career hit against the Daegu NC Dinos on the 12th, closely chasing Son Ah-seop's record of most hits (2,618) in KBO history. There are only 19 differences. In addition, Kim Hyun-soo (38, KT Wiz) is also trailing the two, marking 2,549 hits in his career.

Meanwhile, Son Ah-seop left the NC Dinos for Hanwha through a trade in July last year. Hanwha paid NC one ticket and 300 million won in cash for the third round of the 2026 KBO Rookie Draft. It was clear why Hanwha wanted Son Ah-seop. It was to try to win the game in the fall baseball. At the time, Hanwha explained, "We made a trade because Son Ah-seop, who holds the record for the most hits in the KBO league and has a postseason OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 1.008 in the last 10 years, thought it would help him enter the fall baseball league."

Son Ah-seop has played in 2,169 KBO league games with a batting average of 0.319 (2,618 hits in 8205 times at bat), 182 home runs, 463 doubles, 37 triples, 1086 RBIs, 1,400 runs, 232 steals (72 failed), and 962 walks with 41 bodies, 1336 strikeouts, a slugging percentage of 0.451 and an on-base percentage of 0.391.

He played in more than 100 games except for a single season (2024 seasons) from the 2010 season to the last season. He also hit .300 for nine consecutive seasons from the 2010 season to the 2018 season, and also hit triple-digit hits for 14 consecutive seasons from the 2010 season to the 2023 season. In the 2023 season, he became the first in KBO league history to hit 150 hits for eight consecutive seasons. In June 2024, he surpassed Park Yong-taek's (2504 hits) record and became the hero of the most hits in KBO history.

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*This content was translated by AI.