Size down San Diego Give Up Lee Jeong-hoo and Even Put Kim Ha-seong Up for Trade?

The San Diego Padres of the American professional baseball major league, who are trying to 'reduce their size', are expected to put Kim Ha-seong (28), who was evaluated as the team's best fielder in the 2023 season, on the market for a 'trade offer'.

The American media outlet The Athletic reported on the 17th (local time), “San Diego classified infielders Kim Ha-seong and Jake Cronenworth as ‘tradeable players.’” Reports that Kim Ha-seong could be a trade target are attracting more attention because they have been coming out steadily since the end of the 2023 season.

In particular, this report is a little more specific. The media explained, “San Diego borrowed $50 million last September to solve short-term liquidity problems,” and “there are also plans to lower the total salary based on competitive balance tax to less than $200 million for the 2024 season.” 카지노사이트랭크

Ha-seong Kim's salary in 2024 is $7 million, and Cronenworth's is $7,285,714. Letting go of Sander Bohartz ($25,454,545), Joe Musgrove ($20 million), Manny Machado ($17,099,09), and Yu Darvish ($16 million, 2024 annual salary) will reduce the total salary. Although they are more effective, their trade possibility is not that great. Some players have the ‘right to veto trade’.

Ha-seong Kim signed a 4+1 year contract with San Diego in 2021 worth up to $39 million. If there is no intention to remain in the contract with Ha-seong Kim, who will become eligible as a free agent (FA) after the end of the 2024 season, trading Ha-seong Kim before the end of the contract period may be a way to make financial sense for San Diego.

San Diego sent Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the New York Yankees, reducing their total salary in 2024 by more than $30 million. However, it must be reduced further to go below $200 million. San Diego's total annual salary in 2023 was $256 million. The standard for imposing the competitive balance tax in 2024 is $237 million.

Meanwhile, The Athletic reported, "Although San Diego also jumped into recruiting Lee Jeong-hoo, the amount offered by the San Francisco Giants for Lee Jung-hoo exceeded the level that San Diego could pay." Lee Jung-hoo signed a six-year, $113 million contract with San Francisco. This is about twice the amount normally expected to be 50 to 60 million dollars.

San Diego, which missed out on Lee Jeong-hoo, is reportedly making efforts to recruit Yuki Matsui (Rakuten Golden Eagles), a Japanese relief pitcher with excellent cost-effectiveness.

The Boston Red Sox is a team that Ha-Sung Kim has been closely associated with in the past. This is due to rumors that the team is looking for reinforcements for second baseman. San Diego fan media 'friars on base' said, "According to American media reports, Boston is targeting a second baseman position in 2024," and "He is an essential player for the Red Sox ahead of the season."

At the same time, Ha-seong Kim is attracting attention from other teams not only because of his performance on the ground in 2023 (5.8 bWAR, 110 OPS+, Gold Glove Award winner), but also because of his contract situation (he has an option for the 2025 season in the final year of a four-year, $28 million contract). ), he added that this is fully understandable.

It is not yet known whether Kim Ha-seong will actually be traded.

However, if Ha-Sung Kim's trade goes through, Ha-Sung Kim will not be seen in the Major League opening game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers to be held at Gocheok Dome in Seoul on March 20th and 21st next year.