The Padres announced that infielder Sung-Mun Song has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A El Paso. He began the season on the IL due to a right oblique strain and had remained there until this transaction.
Song, 29, spent most of the past decade as a regular in the KBO League in South Korea. He was posted for MLB clubs in the offseason and landed with the Padres, securing a $15MM guarantee on a four-year deal.
It’s unusual for players signed to eight-figure, multi-year free agent deals to be optioned to the minors, but there are some unique circumstances at play here. Most players who sign such deals are MLB veterans who reached free agency by getting to six years of service time. Such players can’t be optioned to the minors without their consent. Players coming over from leagues in other countries will sometimes have language in their contracts giving them the same ability to veto minor league assignments. In this case, it appears that Song doesn’t have such protection.
It’s also possible the Padres want Song to get regular reps in the minors, as opposed to being in a part-time role in the big leagues. He suffered his oblique injury way back in January, before spring training games even began. He did eventually get into eight Cactus League contests but then the oblique issue flared up again, leading to his IL stint. He began a rehab assignment shortly after Opening Day, on March 27th. Rehab assignments for position players come with a 20-day maximum, so the Friars had to make a decision on him.
Adding Song would have likely meant designating someone for assignment. Of their 13 position players, the only three with options are Jackson Merrill, Freddy Fermin and Gavin Sheets. Those three are all regular parts of the lineup and wouldn’t be candidates for a stint in the minors. A bench player like Bryce Johnson, Ty France or Nick Castellanos would need the DFA treatment to squeeze in Song.
The Friars could have gone that route, especially with Castellanos and Johnson struggling, but Song hasn’t exactly been forcing the issue. He has been drawing walks on his rehab assignment but hasn’t been hitting the ball with authority. Of his 16 hits, only two of them have been for extra bases, both doubles. His .276/.364/.310 slash line translates to a 78 wRC+ in the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League. He hit 26 homers in the KBO last year and 19 the year prior, so he should be capable of more than that.
There’s also the fact that the Padres are expanding Song’s versatility. In the KBO, he played the three non-shortstop positions. The Friars are getting him some action at second, third and shortstop. They had also considered him for some outfield work, though they put that plan on ice while Song was dealing with the oblique injury and he hasn’t yet played any outfield for El Paso.
Even if the Padres made space for Song in the big leagues, he wouldn’t find a ton of playing time behind the regular infield of third baseman Manny Machado, shortstop Xander Bogaerts and second baseman Jake Cronenworth, especially since they seem willing to play Fernando Tatis Jr. at second base from time to time.
Add it all up and there’s logic to the decision. Song can get regular playing time for El Paso, which will hopefully wake up his bat while also getting him more exposure to shortstop. Perhaps they will revisit the idea of the outfield experiment. The big league club, meanwhile, can hang onto everyone currently on the roster.
One thing that isn’t at play is service time manipulation. Most contracts for players coming from Japan or South Korea contain language making it clear that the player will be a free agent when the contract expires, regardless of major league service time. That is indeed the case for Song’s deal with the Padres, per Ronald Blum of The Associated Press.
Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images
Castellanos – .179/.238/.256/.495 I see no reason to give him extra at bats to see if he can turn it around. He keeps getting worse as time goes on.
The only reason I can see to option Song would be to give him more starts at SS. He has He has 6 starts at SS there so far and has looked good.
Darragh, Song has looked much better in AAA than Castellanos has looked anywhere for years.
He had key hits in the Boston and Pittsburgh series, to be fair. Just hasn’t done much since.
What I don’t care for in any context is seeing Castellanos in right field, but management is clearly comfortable with it.
Castellanos did have a HR taken from him by the Rockies left-fielder Beck. It was a great running play. Until recently Castellanos was hitting the ball well, just not high enough to get over the head of defenders.
And I do think Nick can be a good buffer for Tatis once Tatis starts hitting HR’s. That will trigger pitchers throwing tighter at Tatis and players like Nick can help by stating that won’t be allowed. That’s my belief and hope.
@winnie
True. I forgot about the Beck play.
It’s a fluid situation and getting more reps in AAA is perhaps a good idea. KBO to MLB fastballs is a learning curve as we saw with Kim. And buying a bit more time for the team to decide between France and Castellanos is a good idea. They want to pick the right one!
Sung Song Blue?
Well, I can stop worrying about what I figured was an inevitable DFA for France, deserved or not. I am good with that.
The Song Is Over
A week ago, I would have guessed that when Song gets promoted it will mean France is the one DFA’d. But Castellanos has looked like a bit of a bust, similar to the Padres attempt at reinvigorating Heyward last year, and Matt Carpenter and Nelson Cruz in recent years. It’s still only mid-April though so I doubt they give up on his just yet, but his clock is ticking.
Barring any other injuries to position players, when Song comes up it will come down to Castellanos vs France being DFA’d. Casty has received the most playing time however, and that suggests that the team had highest hopes for him and despite his subpar hitting, France might still be the one to go.
Johnson is too valuable to the team, being the only quality defensive replacement in the OF, and the only above average pinch-runner. He’s only had a few ABs this year, so to state he is “struggling” is the goofiest part of this article.
When you are 1 for 11, you are struggling. Maybe a reason for the lack of at bats?
1 for 11 isn’t justification to DFA a solid 4th OF who is very good defensively and the only good option backing up CF. Check out his numbers from last year, a proven commodity. Plus, AJ and Stammen have both said he’s a mainstay.
@Brew88
Honestly, I think Castellanos is the odd man out if things stay status quo.
Ty France has started hitting lately (125 wRC+) to go with elite defense, defense that just showed up against the Mariners, a Padre nemesis the past few years.
Johnson has his late game speed and outfield defensive replacement upside.
Castellanos just doesn’t have anywhere he brings upside to in the field, and while his bat has shown chances of hitting home runs, they have fallen short.
At this point, if one of the three must go, it’s getting harder to not say it should be Nick.
Time for a Castellanos “oblique” injury!
Sciatica from his fat wallet thanks to the Phils
The Fattin’ Phils