Detroit Tigers: AJ Hinch staying put as Korea Series gets cancelled

Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch will not be headed overseas after all.

The Detroit Tigers were anticipating that manager A.J. Hinch would be heading overseas to manage the 2022 Korea Series. It would have been the first time in 100 years that Major League Baseball sent players to Korea to participate in competition.

Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch was given the opportunity to attend and manage the team of MLB players in a four-game exhibition against talent from the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). It was announced via Twitter that this event was cancelled.

Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News noted that the event had ultimately been done away with.

As Yoo mentions, there were several big leaguers already pledged to play. Hinch already had an idea of the players who he will be coaching, but instead, he’ll be staying put, getting the opportunity to help get the Tigers rolling on the offseason.

The event was simply not getting enough tickets sold, and the local promoter of the event expressed issues leading to contractual fallthrough. There was a crowd surge leaving over 150 dead that has left many South Koreans in a state of mourning.

The Korea Series event itself is not a priority at a time like this. While it was not scheduled until the second week of the month and beyond, there was not a ton of interest from people to purchase tickets. Though, there was pushback with regard to the ticket prices.

Ultimately the event has been cancelled and Major League Baseball will no longer be heading overseas later this month for the four-game set. This also means that Hinch will stay put and not be joining them.

It’s a loss for South Korea and a loss for Major League Baseball, which is trying to broaden its reach around the globe and get big leaguers playing across other countries in these “World Tour” type of event.

There is no talk of when an event in Korea could be rescheduled or moved, but that could happen down the road. For now, the event will remain cancelled, and the two sides may revisit a possible new contract at a later date.