The hot trade market is heating up over ‘Hot Guy’ Kim Ha-sung… To Cleveland where a striker is needed?

Some predict that Kim Ha-sung (28) may be traded to the Cleveland Guardians in the U.S. Major League, which needs shortstop. Interest in recruiting Kim Ha-sung, who will emerge as a big FA after this season, is also heating up. The Athletic, a U.S. sports media outlet, raised the possibility of Cleveland’s trade on the 13th (Korea time), suggesting Kim Ha-sung as an outside recruitment candidate, citing shortstop as a position that needs to be strengthened.

The Athletic pointed out that Cleveland is currently in the lead in the American Series Central Division, but its weaknesses are noticeable in its shortstop position. “There are Triple-A players, but we don’t know who will be paired with second baseman Andres Jimenez in the infield. If we can’t find a key player inside, there is a short-term solution. Kim Ha-sung and Beau Bissett (Toronto Blue Jays) are the candidates,” he said, referring to Kim Ha-sung and Beau Bissett as the candidates for the trade.

Kim, who signed a four-plus-one-year contract worth up to 39 million dollars with the San Diego Padres ahead of the 2021 season, will see his four-year contract expire at the end of this season. If the contract is extended by one year under mutual agreement, he will receive an annual salary of 8 million dollars next year. However, as of now, chances are very low that the contract will be renewed. From Kim’s point of view, if he declares to be an FA at the end of the season, he is highly likely to be offered a sizable long-term contract worth at least 10 million dollars per year, so there is no need to agree on an extension. 스포츠토토사이트

The possibility of a trade this summer is raised as it is not easy to keep Kim Ha-sung from San Diego, which has a lot of long-term high-payers and is gradually reducing the size of the team’s annual salary. “Bissett is a spectacular player, but Toronto will be able to sell it by the trade deadline (July 30 local time),” The Athletic said. “It seems unlikely, but if San Diego is also pushed out of the postseason competition, Kim Ha-sung can be an interesting alternative.”

The San Diego Padres (37 wins and 35 losses) are currently ranking second in the National League West and second in the wild card list, aiming to advance to the fall baseball league. The Dodgers is 6.5 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers, which ranks first in the West, and considering the power difference, it is hard to reverse the situation, with only hope for the team to advance to the wild card. Therefore, it is not easy to offer Kim Ha-sung, who is playing as the main shortstop this season, as a trade offer. Nevertheless, teams seeking to advance to the fall baseball league immediately seem to be increasingly interested in Kim Ha-sung as he can serve as a sure card to strengthen their power.

Interest in Kim Ha-sung has increased significantly since last year. He played in 152 games last year, posting a batting average of 0.260 with 17 homers, 60 RBIs and 38 steals, and an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 0.749. As he played in a variety of second-base, shortstop, and third-base hits, he won the Gold Glove in the utility category of the National League.

He returned to shortstop, his main position, this season. He could have done better in defense than he did last year. He has a batting average of 0.222 with nine homers, 34 RBIs and 14 steals, and an OPS of 0.729 in 71 games, but his adjusted OPS is 113 this year compared to 108 last year. Another reason for his growing interest in trade with Kim Ha-sung is that he has been improving his performance by batting 0.250 with two homers and 10 RBIs with an OPS of 0.892 in 12 games in June after shaking off his sluggish performance in the early days of the season.

Whether Kim Ha-sung stays in the San Diego Padres or transfers through a trade, the success of FA seems to be becoming a reality. The Athletic predicted that if Kim Ha-sung joins the FA market next year, he would sign an ultra-large contract worth more than 20 million U.S. dollars annually and over 100 million dollars in total. Conservative media also forecast at least 68 million dollars for four years (93.6 billion won). “Kim Ha-sung has made a winning contribution compared to his replacement as high as Shohei Ohtani (Dodgers) over the past three seasons,” Bleacher Report said. “He is also an excellent defender with OAA 21 in four seasons. He may finally achieve 20 homers and 20 steals this year,” highlighting Kim Ha-sung who has been rising every year and has recently shown robust performance.

In the meantime, Bleacher Report selected Kim Ha-sung as the ninth in the preliminary FA rankings and offered him a four-year, $68 million in conservative forecasts. He also mentioned that the final contract could be higher as he offered some level of contracts in the existing contract, given that there are not many FA players of the same type as Kim Ha-sung.