Professional baseball team Lotte Giants has launched a massive overhaul by appointing former NC Dinos manager Lee Dong-wook as its next skipper and former KBO Game Planning Committee member Lee Taek-keun as the new general manager.

The Lotte club announced on October 26 that it has appointed Manager Lee as its 22nd skipper.

The contract terms are for a period of three years, with a signing bonus of 500 million won and an annual salary of 500 million won, totaling 2-billion won.

Born in Busan, the new manager was selected in the second round of the 1997 rookie draft and began his professional career with Lotte.

After finishing his active playing career at the end of 2003, he built his coaching career as a defense coach for Lotte, the LG Twins, and NC.

Having left Lotte at the end of 2006 to move to the LG coaching staff, this marks his return to his "former home" after 20 years.

After taking office as NC manager in 2019, Manager Lee led the team to its first combined KBO League championship since its founding in the 2020 season, driven by data-based operations and communicative leadership.

Later, in 2023, he completed a coaching internship at the rookie team under the Major League Baseball (MLB) San Diego Padres, and starting in 2025, he served as a national team defense coach and a KBO Game Planning Committee member.

Manager Lee expressed his aspirations, saying, "I am very happy and deeply moved to return to Lotte, my former home team where I started my professional career." He added, "I will build a smart style of baseball based on data and trust, along with a team color rooted in solid fundamentals, and reward the fans who have patiently waited with strong results."

Along with this, Lotte has newly revamped its front office lineup by appointing the new General Manager Lee Taek-keun, who possesses comprehensive field expertise and leadership.

Joining the Hyundai Unicorns in 2003 and playing as a representative KBO League outfielder for 18 years through stints with Heroes and LG, General Manager Lee also played for the national team.

After retirement, he accumulated expertise both inside and outside of baseball by going through coaching training, working as a commentary analyst, and serving as a KBO Game Planning Committee member.

General Manager Lee stated, "Based on my experience as a player, I will take a strategic approach to enable customized development tailored to each growth stage of the squad, thereby strengthening the team's depth." He added, "I will do my utmost to support the field and the front office so that they can exercise expertise in their respective domains and look toward the same direction."

In line with the club owner's vision and determination, Lotte is completely readjusting its club operations, using this innovation in field and front-office personnel selections as a turning point.

Through the appointment of Manager Lee, the team plans to introduce advanced tactical analysis utilizing data and reinforce its defense—which had been a weakness—while building a sustainable powerhouse system through synergy with former-player General Manager Lee.

The inauguration ceremony for new Manager Lee Dong-wook will be held at 2:00 PM on October 31 in the Sapphire Room on the 41st floor of Lotte Hotel Busan.

(Photo provided by Lotte Giants, Yonhap News)