Last-place baseball club names new manager

All News 16:12 October 17, 2018

SEOUL, Oct. 17 (Yonhap) -- The NC Dinos, the last-place club in South Korean baseball this season, named a new manager on Wednesday.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) club promoted defensive coach Lee Dong-wook to the managerial position. The 44-year-old has agreed to a two-year deal, with an annual salary of 200 million won (US$177,595) and a signing bonus of another 200 million won.

Lee replaces interim manager Yoo Young-joon, who took over from Kim Kyung-moon in June.

Lee has been on the Dinos' staff since the club's foundation in 2012. The Dinos played one season in the second-tier Futures League and joined the KBO in 2013. They made the postseason every year from 2014 to 2017, but posted a league-worst record of 58-85-1 (wins-losses-ties) in 2018.

With Lee overseeing the team's defense, the Dinos led the KBO in team defensive efficiency ratio -- measuring the rate at which balls put in play are converted into outs -- in four straight seasons starting in 2013.

The Dinos said Lee has a great understanding of the team's system and has an open mind to advanced metrics and their application to the field.

"The NC Dinos' brand of baseball has been about tackling new challenges," Lee said in a statement released by the team. "I'll try to get the club off to a fresh start."

Prior to joining the Dinos, Lee was a coach for the Lotte Giants and the LG Twins.

The Dinos are expected to announce Lee's new coaching staff in the near future.