You've never thought about trading Kim Ha Sung? A two-month relationship, which was extended by 4 consecutive wins and 5 consecutive wins at the end of June, FA anyway
Aug 01, 2024
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This is what San Diego Padres AJ Preller said in an interview with local media at Petco Park on the 31st (Korea time). Where 'he' is Kim Ha-sung. It's a trade-related story.
San Diego succeeded in reinforcing its necessary power by carrying out two big trades on the day of the trade deadline.
In a trade with the Miami Marlins, he acquired top-ranked closer Tanner Scott and right-hander bullpen Brian Hoying, and brought Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Martin Perez. Earlier on the 29th, he traded set-up man Jason Adam from the Tampa Bay Rays and began his "big buyer" move in earnest.
Of course, there was a lot of bleeding. We had to willingly give up five of the 'top 10' prospects to secure three trades.
The reason why San Diego gave up the future of the club 'partly' but'all-in' to advance to the postseason is because it believes there is that much potential. San Diego upped the mood by coming from behind to win 6-5 against its rival LA Dodgers in the same National League West at Petco Park.
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The figure rose to the 60% level after San Diego hit a low of 34.5% in July when it lost 0-7 to the Cleveland Guardians in its first game of the second half and then won seven consecutive games.
However, it seems that it was long before Frelor decided to step into the trade market, that is, around the end of June. San Diego went 9-1 with four straight wins and five straight wins in 10 games from June 20 to 30, making it '+5 games' at .500. 37 wins and 40 losses improved to 46 wins and 41 losses. It is also the time when rumors of Kim Ha-sung's trade began to enter.
Last winter, rumors of Kim Ha-sung's trade were hot. After this season, they will be able to reject $7 million in mutual options next year and go to the FA market. It is known that internal opinions were raised that it is better to trade a year ago if it cannot be caught anyway. Immediately after winning the Gold Glove in defense and hitting a career high in batting, there was also an issue of an extension contract because it was the offseason. The Athletic, a local media outlet, even claimed that San Diego would have to sign an extension contract for seven years and $150 million to keep Kim Ha-sung tied for a long time without trading.
The Kim Ha-sung trade issue did not fade even after the start of this season, but died down at the end of June as the atmosphere was detected that San Diego would make all-out efforts to advance to the postseason. Trade rumors eventually flow from within the club. In other words, it seems that General Manager Preller at least considered or pushed for the Kim Ha-sung trade before the end of June.
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In this situation, General Manager Preller said on the same day that he had never considered a Kim Ha-sung trade.
In an interview released on account X by San Diego Regional Sports Radio '97.3 The Fan', he said "Kim Ha-sung is a big part of the team." He shows energetic play every day, and pitching and defense are important to win, but he is playing his part in infield defense"We never really had a conversation about the Kim Ha-sung trade ahead of the trade deadline." In the remaining two months, we have to be with shortstop Kim Ha-sung to get to our target and he has to make a big contribution" he said.
However, it should be noted that the timing was specified as 'before the trade deadline. In other words, they may have negotiated a trade deal before that. If San Diego had not been able to ride a winning streak at the end of June and had been hovering below the winning rate of 50% so far, Kim Ha-sung's name would have been included in the trade rush.
jhno@sportschosun.com
