It's been less than a month since I came down to Busan, and I already felt that this is Lotte. Jeon Min-jae (26, Lotte Giants) is making a fresh start.

Jeon moved from the Doosan Bears to the Lotte Giants through a 3-2 trade in November last year. With Jeon Min-jae and pitcher Jung Cheol-won moving to Lotte, outfielders Kim Min-seok (21), Choo Jae-hyun (26), and pitcher Choi Woo-in (23) moved to Doosan.메이저사이트

After graduating from Daejeon High School, Jeon Min-jae, who started his professional career by Doosan in 2018 as the 40th overall pick in the second four rounds, posted a batting average of 0.255 with two home runs, 37 RBIs and 51 runs, 10 steals, and an OPS of 0.604 in 177 games. Although he played only 77 games in the first team until the 2023 season, he played in 100 games last year and received many opportunities with a batting average of 0.246 (61 hits in 248 at-bats) with two home runs, 32 RBIs and seven steals with an OPS of 0.599.

"Park Seung-wook was good to us, but he had difficulty finding a shortstop position in the infield," Lotte General Manager Park Joon-hyuk told Star News at the time of the trade. "We can't just fill the depth with promising players. We needed a player with experience." His ability to serve in the military also played a role.

Jeon Min-jae, who had been in Doosan for a long time, had difficulty in realizing that he was leaving. It was a personal regret that he changed his team at a time when the competition was about to unfold due to the transfer of Huh Kyung-min (KT) and Kim Jae-ho's retirement. "I was working hard in the closing camp thinking that if I do well next year (2025), I will play a lot, but it was traded," he said.

Still, Jeon wanted to use the trade as an opportunity. "As I became a player who can be traded, I thought, 'Now I've grown a lot,'" he said.

Jeon Min-jae is now a "Lotte Man." Having moved to Busan in January, Jeon will build a nest in the same neighborhood as Chung Cheol-won, who was traded with him. "Since Chung is the only one I have to talk to, I will ask him when he will go to the baseball stadium and come to work together," he said.

Although it was a short time, there were many things that surprised Jeon Min-jae. On this day, Lotte had many players come to work to take a profile picture of the team, and fans also came to see it. In addition to this day, fans always came to Sajik Stadium to receive fan service. Jeon Min-jae said, "I was surprised. Fans don't come to Doosan during the off-season, but I was really surprised to come here."

He also received a "meal payment," which is a welcoming ceremony for Lotte players. "I was eating alone in front of the ballpark recently, and someone next to me paid for it," Jeon said with a smile. "I thought, 'This is Lotte.'

Although he is close to Chung Cheol-won who moved with him and Ko Seung-min who worked with him at Bukil High School, Jeon Min-jae will also reunite with manager Kim Tae-hyung, who was his teacher at Doosan in the past. "(Kim Tae-hyung) was full of charisma and was a little scary, to be honest. I couldn't approach him easily," he confessed. Still, he said, "When I played with Lotte last year, I wanted to show better performance in front of the manager, but I came here to see if he liked it."

This winter, Jeon is focusing on weight training. "I always gained about 5 kilograms during the off-season, but I tend to lose them at the beginning of the season," he said. "I want to make a routine where I weigh a lot to keep track of myself this year."

Coach Lim Hoon, who has been promoted to the main batting coach this season, recently picked Jeon Min-jae as a highly anticipated player. "I haven't seen (Jeon Min-jae) yet. I will see him at the spring camp and discuss it with him," Lim said. "I heard from Seung-min (the late) that Lim Hoon values pre-match routines," Jeon said. "I usually just do it, but I should try it now."

Jeon Min-jae expressed his hope to Lotte fans, who will now meet, saying, "Just looking at him in the off-season, I really felt his passion for baseball," and added, "I'll do my best now, so I'd appreciate it if you could keep supporting me."