Hanwha manager Kim Kyung-moon to step down after this season; club seeks new manager

[Financial News] Manager Kim Kyung-moon, 67, who led the Hanwha Eagles to the Korean Series last year, will part ways with the team after one year. With Hanwha falling to ninth place this season, the club has begun looking for a new manager instead of renewing his contract.
According to industry sources on the 10th, Kim’s contract expires at the end of this season. Hanwha parted ways with then-manager Choi Won-ho in June 2024 due to poor results, then signed Kim to a three-year deal worth a total of 2 billion won. In his first year, Kim steadied a team that had been struggling. Last year, he guided Hanwha to second place in the regular season and a berth in the Korean Series (KS).
This season, however, the team fell short of expectations as poor performances by its foreign pitchers coincided with struggles in the key bullpen. Through 143 games as of the 9th, Hanwha had just 57 wins, four ties and 82 losses, for a .410 winning percentage.
Kim began his career as a professional baseball manager in 2004, taking charge of the Doosan Bears. From 2011 to 2018, he served as the first manager of the NC Dinos. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he led the national baseball team to gold with nine straight wins.
A KS championship, however, remained just out of reach. He finished as runner-up in the KS in 2005, 2007 and 2008 while managing Doosan, and came up short of the title again in 2016 while leading NC. He returned to the KS with Hanwha last year, but the team fell to the LG Twins, leaving him with a fifth career runner-up finish.
Kim also reached major milestones with Hanwha. A win over the Lotte Giants on August 12 last year made him the third manager in history to reach 1,000 regular-season wins, after former managers Kim Eung-yong (1,554 wins) and Kim Seong-geun (1,388 wins). As of the 9th, Kim’s career regular-season record stood at 1,078 wins, 39 ties and 957 losses in 2,074 games.
[email protected] Jung Won-il Reporter