“Trade Kim Ha Sung? High value, too low salary” ‘Awesome Kim’ has grown to the next level, but trading has become more difficult

“Trade Kim Ha Sung? High value, too low salary” ‘Awesome Kim’ has grown to the next level, but trading has become more difficult

Ha-Sung Kim (28-San Diego Padres) has stepped up in his third year in Major League Baseball (MLB). Now, he’s too valuable to be traded.

“San Diego is looking to reduce the team’s payroll from $250 million (KRW 32.78 billion) last season to $200 million (KRW 26.23 billion),” The Athletic reported on Sept. 9, citing sources, referring to trade scenarios for players including Kim.

San Diego finished the 2023 season with a record of 82-80 (.506 winning percentage), good for third place in the National League West. They added slugger Juan Soto at last year’s trade deadline and bolstered their lineup with an 11-year, $280 million deal for Stroman and Bogart. Fernando Tatis Jr, the 2021 Home Run King, is also back after missing a full season last year due to injury and a PED suspension. The team also retained its star players, including Manny Machado.

But San Diego struggled to get out of the .500 range this season. They were unable to put together a focused effort, failing to win four straight games until early September, the only team in the majors to do so. They eventually fell away from the leaders and dropped to fourth place at one point. The Padres got back to their winning ways with an eight-game winning streak and a five-game winning streak at the end of the season, but they were already a long way from a playoff spot.

San Diego, which took out a loan in September to pay its roster, is looking to reduce its payroll, but it’s not easy when you have players like Manny Machado (11 years, $350 million) and Xander Bogaerts (11 years, $280 million) already under contract. Amidst the trade scenarios for other players, Kim’s name came up.

“San Diego could trade infielder Ha Sung Kim at a high value,” the outlet said. “The popular and increasingly productive outfielder is due just $8 million in the final season of his contract (2024),” the source said. While this means that trading him wouldn’t dramatically reduce the team’s payroll, it could also be interpreted as a sign of his high trade value. A player with a high value for a low salary will have a lot of teams on the market.

Kim signed a four-year, $28 million guaranteed contract with San Diego ahead of the 2021 season, with a $7 million mutual option for 2025. After hitting .202 in 117 games in his rookie season, he showed improvement in 150 games at first base last year, batting .251 with 11 home runs, 59 RBIs, 12 doubles, and a .708 OPS. He then moved to an unfamiliar position this year, second base, where he batted .260 with 17 homers, 60 RBIs, 84 runs scored, 140 runs batted in, 38 doubles, and a .749 OPS in 152 games. In July, he had a “crazy summer,” batting .337 with five home runs and an OPS of .999. Although injuries and a slump in September prevented him from becoming the first Asian infielder to reach 20 HRs and 20 RBIs, he still had a career-high season in home runs, doubles, and RBIs.

In OAA (Outs Above Average, where 0 is average), the latest defensive metric available through Statcast, Kim was +7 in games played at second base, an outstanding above-average defense. As a result, after narrowly missing out on the Gold Glove last year at shortstop, he won it this year in the utility category, a first for a Korean and a first for an Asian infielder.

Kim’s value is also reflected in his sabermetrics. His 5.8 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) ranked eighth in the National League, according to Baseball-Reference. At one point during the season, he was ranked first among all major league outfielders. He was also ranked 22nd in the National League with a WAR of 4.4 by another site, FanGraphs. He’s rated somewhere between a starter and an All-Star. 카지노사이트

You could try to trade him. There’s no team that wouldn’t want a high-value player for a low salary. It’s unlikely that a mutual option would be triggered, but it’s also appealing that he still has one more year under club control. However, if San Diego’s goal is to reduce the payroll, it would be better to trade a long-term contractor like Bogart or Fernando Tatis Jr. However, the outlet notes that “both players have trade veto clauses in their contracts,” making it difficult.