San Diego Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim is one of the most intriguing free agents on the market this winter. On the one hand, Kim is an exceptional shortstop with a very good bat. On the other side, he recently suffered a significant shoulder injury.
Estimating the worth of his deal in free agency will be difficult. He’ll probably sign for far less than he’s worth, which leads me to suspect his contract will be only two or three years.
Zachary Rymer of Bleacher Report recently claimed that the Padres infielder would sign a four-year, $60 million contract with the Detroit Tigers. Throughout the piece, Rymer likened Kim to San Francisco Giants infielder Willy Adames, as the two have comparable WAR over the last few seasons.
“This is, of course, deliberately provocative. At his best, Adames is a 30-homer slugger who plays Gold Glove-caliber defense at shortstop,” Rymer wrote. “At his best, Kim is only capable of the latter. And even this is assuming a strong recovery from right shoulder surgery.
“Good shortstop defense is nonetheless a valuable commodity, and it’s but one service that Kim provides in the field. He’s also a capable defender at third base and second base. Kim is also an elite bat-to-ball hitter who had a whiff rate in the 92nd percentile in 2024 and, unlike Adames, a consistently above-average baserunner.”
Kim and the Tigers make sense in a few ways. He’s a very talented infielder that would be affordable at $15 million a year. If he comes back from his injury like the old Kim, the Tigers landed a steal.
That’s a big “if” though. Detroit has already experienced quite a nightmare at shortstop with Javier Baez. The last thing the Tigers need is another infielder that signs for big money and doesn’t produce. Signing Kim comes with a big risk, which is something the Tigers would need to be very wary of in this case.
Honestly, I feel as though he’ll return fine. I’m sure the Tigers, in this case, would do beyond their due diligence to be sure of it. A healthy Kim fits perfectly in Detroit’s lineup.
