Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim declined his end of an $8MM mutual option for the 2025 season, and he’ll now take a $2MM buyout and enter free agency, The Athletic’s Dennis Lin reports (X link). Left-hander Wandy Peralta will be staying in San Diego for at least one more season, as Peralta will pass on his opt-out clause and remain in the four-year, $16.5MM deal he signed with the Padres last winter.
Neither decision registers as a surprise. Kim has hit .250/.336/.385 over the past three years for a wRC+ of 106, indicating he has been 6% above league average at the plate in that time. He also stole 72 bases in that stretch and provided above-average defense at shortstop, second base and third base.
His situation is a bit complicated by the fact that he underwent right labrum surgery not too long ago. His return timetable is a bit unclear but it has been suggested he is likely to miss at least part of the start of the 2025 season.
Even with that injury situation, it’s understandable that he would walk away from his mutual option at a net $6MM price point. Players coming back from injury can often still have notable earning power. Michael Conforto secured a two-year, $36MM deal from the Giants after missing an entire season. Rhys Hoskins got two years and $34MM from the Brewers after his own missed campaign. Both players had the ability to opt out after one season, though neither eventually did so.
The situations aren’t entirely analogous. Both Conforto and Hoskins were expected to be healthy in the first seasons of their deals, which won’t be the case with Kim. Perhaps that puts his earning power a bit below those two, but it still makes it sensible for him to turn down his option today. Whether he can get a two-year deal with an opt-out or a more straightforward one-year pillow deal, he should be able to get past the $6MM he’s leaving on the table today.
For the Padres, they will now have to figure out what to do at shortstop. When Kim was hurt late in the year, they moved Xander Bogaerts from second to short. It’s unclear whether they would want to do that for the long term as they just decided a year ago to have Bogaerts take on the less-demanding second base spot. Jackson Merrill came up as a shortstop before getting moved to center field for 2024. He could switch back but performed so well in center that the club might decide to keep him there.
The free agent market is headlined by Willy Adames but the Padres have some payroll limitations and probably aren’t the most logical landing spot for him. The trade market could feature Bo Bichette but it’s unclear if the Blue Jays will make him available.
As for Peralta, he signed with the Padres last winter on a four-year deal with a $16.5MM guarantee and opt-outs after each season. He went on to have a pretty mediocre season, despite a respectable 3.99 earned run average. His 52.9% ground ball rate was still above league average but his worst in a full season since 2019. His strikeout rate fell to 13.6% this year after being in the 18-23% range in the previous five years.
It it weren’t for a fairly low .233 batting average on balls in play, he would have allowed more runs to score. His 5.46 FIP and 4.57 SIERA disagree on how bad things were under the hood but both suggest the ERA is misleading. After that performance, he’ll stick with the Padres and hope for a better season, with the chance of returning to free agency again a year from now.
That Peralta contract is horrible. Kim is probably the most fascinating player on the market.
Anyone know what the percentage of mutual options get picked up? It can’t be too high. I would imagine it’s similar to the number of QOs that get accepted.
Wayyyy less than QOs, like >1% of Mutuals get activated.
Most recent was Matt Belisle with the Rockies 11 years ago. Most recent before that one was Jason Giambi with those same Rockies 2 years earlier.
Robbie Ray with the Giants picked up his player option today.
That’s not what this is about though.
@websoulsurfer We are talking about mutual options. If Robbie Ray’s option had been a mutual option the Giants would have declined their end of it.
Could X-Man help his 2025 team by re-negotiating and deferring a significant portion of his guaranteed money. I know agents don’t like to set a precedent and it might not be allowed by MLB CBA.
It happens in the NFL and it seems to be a big differrence between just a playoff contender and a potential SuperBowl winner.
That contract is Hosmer 2.0 only worse. An “Albatross” and I am a fan of Xanders versatility and overall game. Can play SS, 2B, DH and probably some 1B. World Series Champion, playoff experience tested. Sincerely NOT throwing shade.
IF SDP including significant $ do you think there are any teams that would take him?
As a NYM fan I might be interested but has to be significant $ (like 50M)
Allowed, yes. Will he? No.
No. The MLBPA would not allow it unless there was a significant increase in the total dollar amount that made the value the same.
Gwynning! Glad you are still around here kicking butt! How are the Pads looking next season? Rematch with LA?
Yuppers! Good to hear from you Trumbo, Happy Offseason amigo!
Very rarely do both sides agree on a value from a year+ ago. The most recent year performance will more than likely lead to the player seeking more money or the team trying to get out of the contract.
I thought this might have been the one ! 1 year/6 mil net to prove u can bounce back from injury then hit open market ? Gamble on yourself. Then pads almost certainly pick that up
Kim can and will beat $6m on a one year deal.
About 20% of player options, 9 of 44, were picked up the last 4 seasons. I don’t know about both ends of a mutual option.
Rockies did it with Jason Giambi in 2011 and Matt Belisle in 2013. But then they’re the Rockies. They don’t operate like most teams. Can’t remember any other instances.
Hello Seattle.
Works for me.
Jerry Dipstick needs to sign Kim if he wants to keep his job. The only problem is abrasive Scott Borex is his agent.
Dipstick and Borex…is that supposed to be humor?
The first of many leaving San Diego after seeing where the franchise is headed. Good for him. Good for Kim
Yeah, sucks to be on a team that almost beat the WS champs in the playoffs
…But didn’t.
Lame reasoning on your part. Not surprised
You’re an id10t. Padres are one of the best teams in baseball. Go pound sound dolt
Where is the franchise headed?
Down the hall. Third door on the left. Make sure you wash your hands when you’re done.
Seems like you must be very familiar, since that’s where a POS goes lol.
Kim is an example of another deft signing by the Padres, he served the team well, now another team can overpay him.
Always a hater out there lol
@TerryTurnbuckle I’m pretty sure Kim just wants a better payday, and it has jack squat to do with any narrative about the franchise.
Yeah the franchise that literally just set an all-time attendance record for the team is definitely heading in the wrong direction… oh wait, that makes no sense.
Lets go goose!
That’s what’s IIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNN!
Hope we end up bringing back Kim. He seems like a good teammate and a valuable player and important part of our team.
Preller: I got 99 shortstops but a Kim ain’t one.
Good one.
Kim will get $2 million to walk , now needing to get at least $6mill elsewhere to even out… dude will easily get $12-14 million on a 2-4 year deal. 3/42 or 2/ 30 are both great
I’d be surprised if he gets 3/42 given he’ll miss part of 2025 and turns 30 next year. But maybe. A lot of teams need a solid glove at SS
Prior to the injury Kim was expected to get 5/50 to 6/65. The nature of this injury and the surgery ended any chance of that. 2/16 with a mutual $12 million option? Still more guaranteed money than what he would have received had he exercised his end of the option.
I’m plus the two dudes mentioned in article – it didn’t pan out well for team signing them. I think he struggles to get signed
I hope the Giants sign Kim. Would be great addition
SFBay314 — He might look good to you in that uni but he’ll do nothing for the SF offense. Giants need to go HARD on Adames and move Fitz to 2b.
Kim would look good in KC batting leadoff and playing 3B. They already have a pretty good SS there.
Yeah, there was no chance Wandy was walking away from that money.
Good for him
they shlt on him after that great 2022
By continuing to feature him prominently until he got hurt? I’m not following.
No sure I understand that comment either. The Padres moved one of the top SS on the league off the position to give Kim a full time shot there. Kim didn’t perform and then got hurt.
They were hoping for 2023 Kim but sure didn’t get it in 2024
So much for Pads Fans + burners repeating over and over again that Kim would exercise his option.
Thanks for the hustle Ha Seong. Its been fun having you as a Padre. I sincerely hope your rehab goes well and you can return to being the player we saw in San Diego by 2026.
For those that are arguing over when he will be back, Preller said that Kim won’t even be able to begin his throwing program until after the season starts in April. Once he can throw across the diamond, 6-8 weeks later, then he can get into games and begin a rehab assignment. That will be another 2-4 weeks. so soonest possible return date to playing in MLB games is beginning of June. Most likely is around All Star Break.
We also know that players that return from surgery on this particular injury are never up to form in their first year back. Especially when its to their throwing arm. Some are never able to throw with the same velocity or accuracy. I hope that is not the case for Kim.
What it means for the Padres is that they will not be bringing Kim back. They cannot afford a SS/3B that they won’t know until mid-2025 at the earliest if he can even throw the ball across the diamond with anything behind it. I wish him the best of luck where ever he is signed…
unless its with the Dodgers.
I could see Kim getting a 1 year $8m+ deal pretty easily – that’d give him a $2m+ raise for the year and re-establish himself on a SS needy team like the Tigers who should be interested.
The Tigers have a SS that was a major factor in them getting to the playoffs once they acquired him.
They need a platoon RH bat and a starter or two.
Trey Sweeney certainly looked like a major leaguer however, I’m not sold on him being the long term solution at SS. I could see him getting around 300 AB next year.
Since Kim will miss at least the 1st 3 months of the season and possibly more, I don’t see any team signing him to a one-year deal. They will want a shot at recouping some of their investment with a 2-year deal and perhaps an option year after that.
I’d keep an eye on his market if I was the Yankees. I’d like to move jazz back to 2B and get a nice defensive 3B that has a bit of offensive value as well. Great complimentary player.
I’d like to see the Red Sox sign him on incentivized contract. Something that is 2 year $14M with a club option @ $8M, $1M buyout. With incentives he could turn that into a 3 year $36M with a club option @ $14M, $4M buyout. I don’t even know if that’s cheap or generous though haha
Kim could be a good fit in MKE.