SSG Releases Ha Jae-hoon, 2019 Saves Leader; Signs 3 Development Players

The SSG Landers have released Ha Jae-hoon (36), who once reached the top of the league as a closer before attempting a transition to a position player.
SSG announced today (June 30) that it has released four players and signed three development players to reorganize its roster.
The list of released players includes position players Ha Jae-hoon and Lee Jung-beom (28), and pitchers Park Sang-hoo (23) and Choi Soo-ho (26).
The newly signed players are pitcher Gil Ji-seok (25) and infielder Kim Ye-jun (22), both formerly of the independent team Hwaseong Coriyo, and infielder Im Tae-yoon (24) from the Yeoncheon Miracle.
The most notable name on the list is Ha Jae-hoon.
After graduating from Yongma High School in 2009, Ha signed with the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB) to pursue his big league dreams.
He later played for the Yakult Swallows in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and the Tokushima Indigo Socks of an independent league before being selected by the SK Wyverns (now SSG) in the second round (16th overall) of the 2019 KBO Rookie Draft.
In the KBO League, Ha recorded 40 saves as a pitcher and hit 26 home runs as a position player.
In his debut season, he led the league in saves as a pitcher, posting a 5-3 record with 36 saves and a 1.98 ERA.
However, he struggled to continue his pitching career due to a shoulder injury and converted to a position player after the 2021 season.
He appeared in only 18 games during the 2025 season and did not make a single appearance on the first-team roster this year.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.