It was a “multi-year contract” that could confirm why many teams had wanted Kim Tae-gun (34), a veteran catcher with 16 years of professional career. Kim Tae-gun will hit a three-year, multi-year contract jackpot worth a total of 2.5 billion won with KIA, and will also play on the ground as a member of the Tiger Corps next season.
KIA Tigers officially announced on the 16th, “We completed negotiations with Kim Tae-gun on a multi-year contract at Gwangju-Kia Champions Field later in the day,” and “We signed a contract for a total of 2.5 billion won, including 2 billion won in annual salary and 500 million won in options, for three years.”
Kim Tae-gun, who graduated from Yangjeong Elementary School, Daedong Middle School, and Busan High School, has always performed like an altor as a “main-level” backup catcher, even though he has not been a brilliant mainstay in recent years on the professional stage. Above all, he was a home mother who has a reputation for being a defensive catcher. In fact, he played with national catchers such as Yang Eui-ji (Doosan Bears) and Kang Min-ho (Samsung Lions) in his team, so he had fewer chances to play than them. Nevertheless, the reason why the clubs pressed Kim Tae-gun and sat together was because they needed his value. And finally, he was able to be recognized for his true value again in KIA this time. 스포츠토토
Kim Tae-gun joined the LG Twins with the 17th overall pick in the second and third rounds in the 2008 rookie draft. In the 2008 season, his first year as a member, he played in six games and finished his debut season with one strike in three at-bats. At that time, LG had catchers like Gira-sung like Jo In-sung.
Kim Tae-gun began gradually increasing his chances of playing in 2009, the following year. Kim had a batting average of 0.250 (27 hits in 108 at-bats) in 54 games in the 2009 season, a batting average of 0.255 (13 hits in 51 at-bats) in 50 games in the 2010 season, and a batting average of 0.234 (11 hits in 47 at-bats) in 53 games in the 2011 season. He then played in 100 games in the 2012 season and posted a batting average of 0.201 (30 hits in 149 at-bats) with 14 RBIs.
The first major change in Kim Tae-gun was in the 2013 season. Ahead of the 2013 season, he was specially nominated by the NC Dinos, who joined the first division as a new team at the time. Since then, Kim Tae-gun has played more than 100 games for six consecutive seasons until the 2017 season, establishing himself as a clear main catcher.
Kim also played 112 games in the 2013 season, hitting a .213 batting average (59 hits in 277 times at bat) with four homers and 28 RBIs, and played 109 games in the 2014 season, raising his batting average to 0.262 (88 hits in 294 times at bat). In the 2015 season, he then showed off his steel stamina by playing all games (144 games), with a batting average of 0.254 (107 hits in 421 at-bats), six home runs, 52 RBIs, and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 0.661. It was also the only season in which he hit triple-digit hits during his active career.
Kim Tae-gun’s position in NC continued to be firm. In the 2016 season, he had a batting average of 0.232 (96 hits in 362 at-bats) and 30 RBIs in 132 games in the 2017 season, marking a batting average of 0.265 (96 hits in 362 at-bats) with three home runs and 34 RBIs and OPS 676. And after the 2017 season, Kim Tae-gun joined the National Police Agency (police baseball team) and was able to continue his career as a baseball player while fulfilling his duty of national defense. Meanwhile, news came that would have a great impact on his position. It was news that NC recruited ‘large FA’ Yang Eui-ji in December 2018. His team said it would find a way to coexist, but in fact, the chances of participating in recruiting the nation’s best catcher were reduced than before. Kim Tae-gun, who played in only 18 games after being discharged from the military in August 2019, qualified as a free agent after the end of the season, and signed an FA contract with the original team NC Dinos in January 2020 for up to 1.3 billion won for four years. Kim Tae-gun, who was also NC’s “national contribution,” said at the time, “Thank you for giving me another opportunity at the Dinos with us from the foundation.” I will do my best to contribute to the team as a more valuable player,” he said.