The 21st place in total is the best FA contract for someone, Kim Ha-sung gives up, and there are quite a few clubs to regret. Media

Feb 07, 2025

사진=MLB 공식 X 계정

Tampa Bay Rays' contract to recruit Kim Ha-sung is receiving favorable reviews.

Tampa Bay officially announced on the 4th (Korea time) that it had agreed to a two-year, $29 million contract with Kim Ha-sung. The club decided to give Kim Ha-sung a $10,000 bonus for every additional at-bat up to 525 at-bats if he fills 325 at-bats this year. A bonus of up to $2 million will be given. And after this season, the right to opt out was granted, and the salary in 2026 is $16 million.

Kim Ha-sung could have received more than $100 million if he played the full-time season without only suffering a shoulder injury last year. However, as he closed the season early, he underwent surgery on his right shoulder on Oct. 11 and went into rehabilitation, plunging his value.

Kim Ha-sung cannot play for about a month at the beginning of this season. As for the timing of his return, Kim Ha-sung said "End of April or early May". Local media are generally looking at the middle or end of May, which means that they can return two to four weeks earlier than that. In this situation, Kim Ha-sung will receive an annual salary of $13 million this year.

Kim Ha-sung, who is expressing his feelings about joining the team at a video interview prepared by the Tampa Bay club on the 4th. Photo =MLB.com Capture

However, there is a prospect that Kim Ha-sung may be traded this summer. If Tampa Bay believes that the possibility of fall baseball is slim, it can make a trade to sell Kim Ha-sung to receive promising players. It is a possible scenario if Kim Ha-sung recovers his pre-injury skills for the remaining two months in the first half after returning.

Of course, Tampa Bay can finish the season together without trading Kim Ha-sung. At this time, if Kim Ha-sung chooses to opt out and becomes an FA, Tampa Bay may offer a qualifying offer. It's similar to the trade effect because you're rewarded with a draft pick from the team that takes him. This could be the reason Tampa Bay signed Kim Ha-sung.

In other words, if Kim Ha-sung recovers his solid batting and Gold Glove defense, which he showed off in 2023 when he was with the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay can pay enough even if he breaks up with him, whether it's a trade or an FA. Of course, from Kim Ha-sung's point of view, if he regains his old skills, he is evaluated as having made the best contract because he can go back to the FA market at the end of this year and aim for a big hit.

Jose Caballero, who conceded No. 7 to Kim Ha-sung, decided to wear No. 77 for the first time in Tampa Bay's history. Photo Source = MLB Jersey Numbers Official X Account

In this regard, CBS Sports reporter RJ Anderson picked Kim Ha-sung when asked what contract he liked the most this offseason.

Reporter Anderson said, `Even considering the recent bias, I like the contract that Rays signed with Kim Ha-sung. He is my favorite player. He has a high level of defense, base running, and very productive hitting. "Without the shoulder surgery that brought last season to an early close, he would have been in the FA Top 10 from my point of view."

He then said 'Of course, I know there are some voices of concern about what Kim Ha-sung's hit will be like after the surgery. However, he added, `I think many other teams are quite likely to regret not jumping into the Kim Ha-sung recruitment race last winter when the trade deadline approaches this summer.'

As of this day, 83 contracts have been signed in the FA market. Among them, Kim Ha-sung's contract is tied for 21st place. However, in terms of good contract rankings, the prevailing evaluation is that it is more than that. Everything depends on whether he recovers his old skills after returning. Otherwise, Tampa Bay will have to stay with a burdensome high-salary player until next year.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.