The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres are one of baseball’s most acrimonious rivalries. In the 2024 postseason, these two teams clashed in the most dramatic of ways, with the Padres eventually losing to the mighty Dodgers. The Padres could fall victim to the Dodgers once more in free agency.
Los Angeles has been linked to elite free agents (Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Willy Adames), whilst the Padres have been linked to considerably smaller players (Jurickson Profar). Ha-Seong Kim, the Padres’ free agent shortstop, is one of the players with whom Los Angeles is still in contact.
FanSided’s Nick Villano followed suit, predicting Kim’s departure from the Padres for the Dodgers. Spotrac expects Kim to sign a four-year contract for $49 million this winter.
If you can’t beat them, you should join them, right? “The reason the Los Angeles Dodgers can pay players like Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani these insane deals is because they make the right decisions around the edges,” Villano pointed out. “They have a really tough decision themselves at shortstop, but if they take a downgrade there but save on the contract by a ton, it gives them the flexibility to keep spending elsewhere.” Kim sustained a shoulder ailment that necessitated surgery near the end of the 2024 season.
He’ll most likely be ready sometime in the first half of 2025, but nothing is certain about his return. The Dodgers might take a chance on an injured Kim, just as they did on Tommy Edman during the trade deadline. The Edman move worked wonderfully, and stealing Kim from the Padres could be even better.
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