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

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
The San Diego Padres did not trade Kim Ha-sung because they are confident of entering baseball this fall season. AFP Yonhap News



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
AJ Prelor, head of the San Diego Padres, watches players train at camp during spring training in March. AP Yonhap News
"He's a big part of our team."

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.

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
Kim Ha-sung is shouting his hurrah by scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning against the LA Dodgers on the 31st (Korea time). USATODAY Yonhap News
With 58 wins and 51 losses, he reduced his gap with the Dodgers (63 wins and 45 losses) to 5.5 games and firmly maintained the third place in the NL wild card. It is no exaggeration to say that the Dodgers, which seemed far away, are now in range. The FanGraphs suggested a 66.1% chance of San Diego's postseason as of today.



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.

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
Kim Ha-sung is the core of San Diego's infield defense. AP Yonhap News
But that doesn't happen anymore. Kim Ha-sung is the core of the infield defense as a constant shortstop, and he is indispensable in San Diego, which takes the center stage in the lower batting line.

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