Hanwha Eagles manager Choi Won-ho resigns

Hanwha Eagles manager Choi Won-ho scribbles in his notebook during a game against the NC Dinos at Changwon NC Park in Changwon, South Gyeongsang on April 17. [NEWS1]

 
Hanwha Eagles manager Choi Won-ho has resigned, the club announced Monday, ending what was meant to be a three-year spell at the helm two years early.
 

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His exit comes as the Eagles, the KBO’s perpetual strugglers, are spending another season at the bottom of the table — despite hitting the top for the first time in a decade in March and signing heavyweights like ex-MLB star Ryu Hyun-jin.
 
Choi on Thursday informed the club of his intention to resign after the Eagles’ 8-4 loss to the LG Twins at Hanwha Life Eagles Park in Daejeon, which sent them down to the bottom of the 10-team table, and the club approved his exit on Sunday, the Eagles said.
 
Eagles CEO Park Chan-hyuk has also resigned, accompanying Choi on his way out to share in the responsibility for the team’s disappointing season, according to the club. Bench coach Chung Kyoung-bae will serve as interim manager until the club announces a permanent replacement for Choi.
 
Choi, 51, is the third Eagles manager in a row to see an early exit. The retired Twins pitcher took the helm of the Eagles last May after the club sacked then-manager Carlos Subero in the final months of his three-year contract.  
 
Choi joined the Eagles as the manager of its Futures League team in 2020 and was bumped up to the first team as its caretaker when then-manager Han Yong-duk resigned after a 14-game losing streak until the club brought in Subero in 2021.
 
The Eagles, who have seen the postseason just once since 2007, managed to avoid the very bottom of the table last season to finish the 2023 KBO season in 9th place with Choi at the helm.
 

Hanwha Eagles manager Choi Won-ho watches the batting training at the second spring camp held at Kochida Stadium in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan on Feb. 25. [YONHAP]

 
The Daejeon club hit the top of the table for the first time in a decade in March but failed to hold onto that momentum through April and May. Former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ryu, who is in the first year of his Hanwha homecoming, hasn’t fully returned to form, picking up a 4.50 ERA over 11 games.  
 
Foreign pitchers Ricardo Sanchez and Felix Pena, have been out with injuries since mid-May — though it’s rumored Pena, with a 6.27 ERA over nine games, may be on his way out with former major leaguer Jaime Barria rumored to be finalizing a deal with the Eagles.
 
The club has yet to announce a successor for Choi but said on Monday it plans to find a permanent replacement as quickly as possible.
 
The Eagles sit in eighth place on the 10-team table as of Monday with 21 wins, 29 losses and one draw.
 

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]