Ha-Seong Kim

Braves Claim Ha-Seong Kim From Rays

By Darragh McDonald | September 1, 2025 at 11:55pm CDT

The Braves have claimed infielder Ha-Seong Kim off waivers from the Rays, according to announcements from both clubs. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the claim prior to the official announcements. Atlanta transferred Austin Riley to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot. Riley is done for the season following core surgery.

It wasn’t previously reported that Kim was on waivers, but it seems the Rays quietly put him out there to try to shed his contract. Atlanta obliged, so the Rays will get out from under that deal. Tampa signed him to a two-year, $29MM pact in the winter. He is making $13MM this year, with just under $2MM left to be paid out. The second year is a $16MM player option.

That deal was the Rays betting on Kim being able to play at his usual level after shoulder surgery finished his 2024 campaign. Over the 2022 through 2024 seasons with the Padres, Kim had slashed .250/.336/.385 for a 106 wRC+. He had stolen 72 bases in that span and received strong grades for his defense at second base, third base and shortstop. FanGraphs credited him with 10.5 wins above replacement for that three-year span.

With the surgery, he was expected to be on the injured list to start 2025, which dampened his market. Some argued he was trending towards a nine-figure deal before he got hurt. Instead, he opted for the short-term, opt-out structure. Ideally, it would have worked great for both sides. If Kim had bounced back to his previous levels of performance, he could have taken the shortstop job in Tampa and then opted out. At that point, the Rays could have given him a qualifying offer and received compensation as he returned to the open market in search of a larger guarantee.

It has not played out that way. He was initially reinstated from the IL in early July. Since then, he has twice gone back on the IL due to back problems. Around the IL stints, he has played in 24 games and produced a measly .214/.290/.321 line.

Given that performance and the injury absences, it’s possible that Kim is trending towards triggering his player option. That would have put $16MM on Tampa’s books for next year. That’s not a massive sum and the Rays have very little committed to next year’s club, but they are also dealing with plenty of uncertainty.

Due to the hurricane damage to Tropicana Field, they have had to move to George Steinbrenner Field, normally a minor league facility. That move has undoubtedly led to a lot of unforeseen costs and presumably less revenue than usual. Work is still being done to get The Trop ready for 2026 and it’s unclear how that will play out. On top of all that, the franchise is actively being sold and it’s unclear what sort of payroll the new owners will give the front office as they focus on building a new stadium.

It seems they preferred to let Kim go and save some money as opposed to keeping him around and hoping for better results next year. They are 5.5 games out of a playoff spot. They are not totally buried but are likely happy to save the remainder of the money, due to those big-picture questions. They will use the remainder of the regular season to continue giving reps to shortstop prospect Carson Williams. He was promoted when Kim’s most recent IL stint started just over a week ago. Williams has big questions about his penchant for strikeouts but he clearly has power and is considered a strong defender.

Atlanta, however, is in a very different situation. They normally run one of the larger payrolls in the league. They came into 2025 seemingly hoping to duck under the competitive balance tax. Back in February, chairman Terry McGuirk said the club still had some powder dry for in-season moves.

This year has turned into a nightmare season for the club. Due to several injuries and a PED suspension for Jurickson Profar, they fell behind their competitors and were never able to recover. They currently have a 62-75 record and are 11 games back of a playoff spot.

President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has been using that dry powder to try to start working on the club’s 2026 comeback season. He acquired Tyler Kinley from the Rockies ahead of the deadline and claimed Jake Fraley off waivers from the Reds. Kinley is making $3MM this year and has a $5MM club option for next year. Fraley is making $3.125MM and will be due a raise via arbitration for 2026, his final season of club control.

Claiming Kim is a similar move but with larger numbers. As mentioned, Kim is making $13MM this year and will make $16MM next year. It’s theoretically possible that Kim gets hot down the stretch and opts out. That would make this claim go for naught, but the club would only lose a bit of money in that scenario. Presumably, they are hoping Kim decides to trigger his option and stay, so it seems they think $16MM is a fine price for betting on a bounceback next year.

It’s an interesting gambit for their middle infield, a situation that MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently took a close look at, in a post for Front Office subscribers. Atlanta has had Nick Allen at shortstop this year. He’s a strong defender but is essentially the worst hitter in the majors by a noticeable margin. Among guys with at least 400 plate appearances this year, Allen’s 53 wRC+ is dead last. Ke’Bryan Hayes is second-last on that list, with a 67 wRC+. Getting another shortstop and bumping Allen into a bench role seemed like a key thing on the to-do list for next year.

However, the offseason options weren’t going to be great. Bo Bichette is going to be the top free agent but Atlanta hasn’t really spent a lot in free agency lately. Under Anthopoulos, their biggest expenditure on the open market has been $65MM for Marcell Ozuna. With Bichette possibly trending towards something in the $150-200MM range, it didn’t seem like Atlanta would be the favorite to land him. Trading for someone like Trevor Story or Javier Báez may have been possible but it’s unclear if their respective clubs would make them available and they come with concerns of their own.

Rather than wait around and deal with the offseason uncertainty, Atlanta seemingly preferred to simply grab Kim now. That adds $16MM to next year’s books but they have some financial flexibility opening up. Ozuna and Raisel Iglesias are both impending free agents. Each of them individually are making $16MM this year, the same salary that Kim is set to make next year, assuming he doesn’t return to free agency.

Rosenthal notes that Kim is ready to come off the IL. That means Atlanta can use the final few weeks of the season to get a look at him. It seems they are hoping that Kim looks good but decides to trigger his option, therefore solving their shortstop question for next season.

In addition to this claim, the Rays announced that right-hander Kevin Kelly has been recalled and outfielder Richie Palacios reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Those are their two September call-up moves, with Palacios taking the 40-man spot vacated by Kim.

Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Rays Promote Carson Williams

By Darragh McDonald | August 21, 2025 at 5:20pm CDT

5:20pm: The Rays have now made it official. Williams has been selected with Kim landing on the 10-day IL due to low back inflammation, retroactive to August 20th. Outfielder Stuart Fairchild has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot. Fairchild hit the 10-day IL July 22nd due to a right oblique strain. His 60-day count is retroactive to that initial IL placement, so he could be reinstated in late September if he’s healthy by then.

12:20pm: The Rays are calling up infield prospect Carson Williams, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. He will take the active roster spot of Ha-Seong Kim, who is going on the injured list, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Kim departed yesterday’s game due to back stiffness. The Rays will also need to open a 40-man roster spot.

Williams, 22, is the Rays’ top prospect and one of the top prospects in the entire league. The Rays took him 28th overall in the 2021 draft. He is currently ranked 74th overall at Baseball America, 14th at FanGraphs, 24th at ESPN and 47th at MLB Pipeline.

As can be seen from the disparity in those numbers, Williams is a divisive prospect. Keith Law of The Athletic gave him the #8 spot coming into the year but then did a midseason update of 60 names with Williams not getting a mention.

The gaps seem to be because Williams has a solid floor but big questions about his ceiling. He is considered a strong defender at short and a plus runner, which gives him the floor. Offensively, he has huge power but strikes out a ton. Prospect evaluators seem split on how much those strikeout concerns will undercut his future career as a big leaguer.

On the optimistic side, FanGraphs compares him to players like Elly De La Cruz, Oneil Cruz and Ezequiel Tovar, who have enough talent to work around strikeout totals. They suggest it’s possible Williams rounds into a player like Willy Adames at some point, while also nothing that an Adalberto Mondesí future seems possible.

Looking at traditional numbers, it’s easy to see the optimistic view. Williams hits about 20 home runs per year and steals 20-35 bases annually as well. From 2021 to 2024, across multiple levels, he stepped to the plate 1,578 times. He struck out in 30.6% of those but also drew walks at an 11.4% pace while hitting 62 home runs. His combined batting line of .256/.353/.478 translated to a 132 wRC+.

His 2025 performance highlights the pessimistic view and perhaps explains why Law bumped Williams off his midseason update. Williams has taken 451 plate appearances at the Triple-A level this year. He still has 23 home runs and 22 stolen bases, as well as a strong 12.4% walk rate, but a huge 34.1% strikeout rate has cut into his batting average and on-base percentage. His .213/.318/.447 line this year translates to a subpar 98 wRC+.

It’s quite difficult to succeed in the majors while striking out that often. Among qualified hitters this year, Cruz has the highest strikeout rate in the league at 31.9%. He has hit some huge bumbs but his .207/.304/.398 line translates to a wRC+ of 92. Players like Riley Greene and James Wood also have strikeout rates above 30% with more success, but it’s a tricky area to be in.

Clearly, there’s a wide range of possible outcomes here. If Williams can rein in the strikeouts or work around them, there’s star-level upside. The floor isn’t awful, as being a glove-first shortstop with speed can still be a useful player, but that’s something well below a star.

At some point, the Rays will have to put him in against big league pitching to see what happens, and now is a logical time. As mentioned, Kim is heading to the injured list, opening up playing time at shortstop. The club has fallen to 6.5 games out of a playoff spot. They’re not totally buried in the standings but probably leaning towards focusing more on the future than on 2025.

It also works out in terms of the prospect promotion incentive. A player can earn his club an extra draft pick if they are top prospects and hit certain criteria in terms of awards voting. A player is PPI eligible if he begins a season on two of the three top 100 lists from BA, ESPN and MLB Pipeline. If the club then promotes the player early enough in a season to earn a full service year, that club will get an extra draft pick if the player wins Rookie of the Year or finishes top three in MVP or Cy Young voting during his pre-arbitration years.

It is now too late in the season for a player to get 45 days of service time. That means Williams will retain rookie status going into 2026 if the Rays keep him from getting to 130 at-bats. Assuming he still ranks on prospect lists going into 2026, he would be PPI eligible if the Rays put him on their Opening Day roster in 2026.

Photos courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Rays Place Jonathan Aranda On IL With Broken Wrist

By Anthony Franco | August 1, 2025 at 4:32pm CDT

The Rays announced a number of roster moves before tonight’s series opener against the Dodgers (relayed by Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times). Most notably, first baseman Jonathan Aranda is headed to the 10-day injured list with a left wrist fracture.

Tampa Bay reinstated Ha-Seong Kim from his own IL stint and recalled infielder Tristan Gray from Triple-A Durham. Deadline acquisitions Griffin Jax and Hunter Feduccia have reported to the team and will be active tonight as well. The Rays designated previous backup catcher Matt Thaiss for assignment and optioned lefty Joe Rock and recently acquired outfielder Everson Pereira to Triple-A.

Aranda was injured in yesterday’s game against the Yankees. He was playing first base when Giancarlo Stanton hit a chopper to third base. Junior Caminero double clutched, then threw wildly to first. Aranda reached the ball and collided with Stanton. He went down in pain. Aranda told reporters (including Mark Skol Jr. of Fox 13) that he won’t be able to do any kind of activity for three weeks. The All-Star said he hopes to return this year.

It interrupts a fantastic year for the lefty-swinging Aranda. He’s hitting .316/.394/.478 with 22 doubles and 12 home runs. Aranda has somewhat quietly emerged as one of the best hitters in MLB. It’s a major blow for a Tampa Bay team that has fallen two games under .500 and sits four games out of the last Wild Card spot. Yandy Díaz moved from his usual designated hitter spot to play first base tonight. Christopher Morel is in the lineup as the DH with an outfield of Jake Mangum, Jonny DeLuca and Josh Lowe.

Kim makes his return at shortstop. He’s back from a minimal IL stay due to a lower back strain. Kim had missed the first few months of the season rehabbing last year’s elbow surgery. Tonight’s game is his 11th of the season. The defensive stalwart is in the first season of a two-year contract. He can opt out in the fall, making his final couple months significant for the upcoming free agent market.

Jax and Feduccia are in line for their team debuts. The Rays acquired the hard-throwing Jax in a one-for-one swap for former top pitching prospect Taj Bradley. He’ll anchor the back of the bullpen. Feducca, meanwhile, was the key piece of Tampa Bay’s return in the three-team trade that sent Zack Littell to Cincinnati. He’d been in Triple-A with the Dodgers but jumps right onto the big league roster with the Rays. Feduccia will back up another deadline pickup, Nick Fortes, in a completely revamped catching group.

That pushed Thaiss off the roster. Tampa Bay had acquired him from the White Sox in May. The 30-year-old Thaiss had carried a .382 on-base percentage with Chicago but hit .225/.304/.282 in 25 games for Tampa Bay. The Rays clearly prefer Feduccia and are willing to risk losing Thaiss, who is out of minor league options. They’ll need to place him on waivers in the next few days.

Latest On Yankees’ Deadline Plans

By Nick Deeds | July 28, 2025 at 10:51am CDT

The Yankees nearly had their season upended when reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge suffered a flexor strain in his right elbow. The issue required a trip to the injured list, but fortunately for the Bronx Bombers their superstar is expected to avoid the operating table and could be back in the lineup as a DH shortly after the trade deadline. Even so, there are some signs that the Yankees may not be fully all-in this summer. Andy Martino of SNY reported yesterday that the Yankees actually “seriously considered” a pivot towards selling this summer if Judge was out for the remainder of the season.

It goes without saying that Judge, who has emerged as the consensus best hitter in the sport with an absurd .312/.436/.681 slash line over the past four seasons, is a transformational player. With that being said, baseball is a team sport and for a team to be willing to pivot from buying to selling based on an injury to one player suggests a level of uncertainty that might not otherwise be expected from a club that’s already gone out and acquired third baseman Ryan McMahon and utility bat Amed Rosario within the past week. Martino even wonders if a Yankees club that’s 8-12 in the month of July and 22-28 over their last 50 games could still consider selling off rental players like Cody Bellinger and Devin Williams, even in spite of Judge’s expected return to the lineup.

That seems very unlikely to actually happen at this point, and even Martino acknowledges that such an outcome is an “extreme longshot.” Still, the fact that there’s any reason to doubt the Yankees’ status as buyers at this point could suggest that they won’t be the most aggressive suitors for high-end talent on the market. Gerrit Cole will be back next year, Judge will presumably have moved past his elbow issues, and the club could hope for better health for an arm like Luis Gil as well, not to mention further development from young pieces both at the big league level (Ben Rice, Jasson Dominguez) and in the minors (Spencer Jones, George Lombard Jr.).

All of that could be enough to opt for lower-cost additions rather than shopping aggressively in the most impactful tiers of the market. We’ve already seen them take that approach in their efforts to upgrade at third base. It’s well-known that the Yankees were engaged with the Diamondbacks on third baseman Eugenio Suarez in recent weeks, but Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com reports that talks between the sides stalled when New York balked at the price tag Arizona hat set, which Romero reports consisted of one MLB player, one prospect from the upper levels of the minors, and at least one prospect from the lower-levels of the minors.

It must be cautioned that proximity to the big leagues, while an attractive factor in a player’s profile, does not necessarily indicate trade value. Oswald Peraza, for example, is much less valuable on the trade market now as a struggling big leaguer without options remaining than he was a few years ago when he was a consensus top-50 prospect in the game with only eight games at the Triple-A level. That means Romero’s report does little to pin down the exact quality of the return Arizona requested from the Yankees, but it does seem likely that New York thought it was giving up less value by surrendering Clayton Beeter, Browm Martinez, Griffin Herring, and Josh Grosz to acquire the combination McMahon and Rosario than they would have had to in order to land Suarez.

Could that apparent hesitance to trade at the top of the market impact New York’s pursuits on the pitching side of things? Joel Sherman of the New York Post indicates that the Yankees are looking to add two relievers (including one lefty) and a starting pitcher “at minimum” this summer. If the Yankees were turned off by the price tag associated with Suarez, it’s possible they could prefer to shop at the lower levels of the market to avoid meeting Arizona’s asking price on Zac Gallen or Merrill Kelly. On the other hand, maybe the prospect capital they saved by passing on Suarez could be used to gun for an even more significant piece with multiple years of control like Jhoan Duran or Emmanuel Clase for the club’s bullpen.

Regardless of how big the Yankees decide to go on the pitching side of things, Sherman reports that the club may not be done augmenting its positional corps just yet. He writes that the Yankees have talked to the Rays about infield pieces Jose Caballero, Taylor Walls, and Ha-Seong Kim. The Rays rarely make any player on their roster off limits and Cabellero specifically came up in the rumor mill recently, so it’s not necessarily a shock to hear that Tampa would listen on some of its infield depth. Sherman suggests that players like Willi Castro of the Twins, Isiah Kiner-Falefa of the Pirates, and David Hamilton of the Red Sox could also be of interest to the Yankees as they look to upgrade the speed and versatility of their bench, preferably with a player who can be relied upon to back up shortstop Anthony Volpe.

Sherman suggests that the Yankees have “long-liked” Castro in particular and suggests that it would be “ideal” for the club to acquire him as part of a package that includes one of Minnnesota’s relievers. Danny Coulombe is a pending free agent who would make plenty of sense if New York hopes to stick with lower-cost acquisitions, but he doesn’t rule out a pursuit of a more expensive, controllable impact piece like Duran and Jax. Minnesota’s relief arms are getting plenty of attention on the trade market, however, and Castro himself would be an excellent fit for not just the Yankees but also teams like the Cubs and Astros. Given the Yankees’ possible reluctance about going all-in on 2025, it seems likely that they’ll continue examining a wide array of options at varying price points over the coming days.

Rays Designate Jacob Waguespack For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | July 25, 2025 at 5:55pm CDT

The Rays announced today that infielder Ha-Seong Kim has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to July 22nd, due to a low back strain. Outfielder Jonny DeLuca has been reinstated from the 60-day IL to take Kim’s active roster spot. To open 40-man space for DeLuca, right-hander Jacob Waguespack has been designated for assignment.

Kim was removed from Monday’s game with lower back tightness and he sat out the games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Perhaps the club wanted to see how his back would respond to a bit of rest before committing to an IL stint. However, three days is the maximum amount of time an IL move can be backdated. It’s possible it didn’t improve as hoped, so they decided to just put him on the shelf.

That’s an unfortunate development but the fact that the club waited to make the decision perhaps suggests it a fairly minor issue. Due to the backdating, he can return a week from now if his back improves between now and then. Taylor Walls and José Caballero will likely take over the shortstop spot again, as they did when Kim was on the IL earlier this year.

DeLuca hit the IL a week into April with a right shoulder strain. He started a rehab assignment in late May but was shut down with continued soreness. He was able to start a new rehab assignment more recently and seems to be ready to go. He’ll jump into the outfield mix alongside Chandler Simpson, Josh Lowe, Jake Mangum and Christopher Morel.

The victim of DeLuca’s return is Waguespack. The right-hander was selected to the Rays’ roster ahead of the 2024 season. He spent most of last year either on optional assignment or battling a rotator cuff injury. He tossed just ten innings for the big league club with a 5.40 earned run average.

The Rays signed a new deal with him for 2025 but it seems this year is following a similar script to 2024. He was optioned to Triple-A Durham at the start of this season. He was placed on the minor league injured list in May with an undisclosed issue and hasn’t pitched since May 20th.

Though his health status is unclear, the Rays have decided to clear him off the 40-man. Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, so he’ll likely be released in the coming days. He’ll then be free to sign with any club, though the interest will depend on his injury status.

Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images

Rays Notes: Rasmussen, Boyle, Lowe, Kim

By Mark Polishuk | July 6, 2025 at 11:35pm CDT

Drew Rasmussen was the starting pitcher in Sunday’s 7-5 Rays win over the Twins, but Rasmussen only tossed two innings before turning things over to Joe Boyle, who was called up from Triple-A before the game. Boyle allowed just one unearned run over five innings of work, and he has yet to allow any earned runs over 10 MLB innings this season.

The quick hook for Rasmussen wasn’t for any health reason, but rather the debut of a strategy the Rays will be deploying over the next few weeks. As Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times explains, Rasmussen has now thrown 89 1/3 innings this season, putting him on track to far exceed the 150-inning limit the Rays set for the right-hander since he missed most of the 2023-24 seasons due to an internal brace surgery. Since he also underwent two Tommy John surgeries before even beginning his pro career, the Rays naturally wanted to be careful in managing Rasmussen’s workload in the aftermath of yet another major elbow procedure.

Since Rasmussen has delivered a 2.82 ERA this year, Tampa wants to make sure the right-hander will still have something for later in the season and into October, as the 49-41 Rays are in position for a playoff berth. The team’s answer is to use Rasmussen as essentially an opener over his next few starts, with Boyle acting as a piggyback pitcher.

Rasmussen is happy with the plan, as “it lets us get the Joe Boyle experience, which is electric. And then also allows me to just stay on routine as well as limit some of the innings for this year. When they brought the idea to me a couple days ago, it was something I’m on board with, obviously, because I think they are always looking out for my best interest.”

Tampa Bay’s rotation of Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot, Shane Baz, Taj Bradley, and Zack Littell has been both effective and incredibly durable. The quintet have combined to start all but one of the Rays’ games this season — the lone exception was Boyle’s only other MLB outing of 2025, a spot start on April 13. As a result, Boyle has had trouble working his way onto the roster, despite a 1.85 ERA, 32.9% strikeout rate, and 10.6% walk rate over 73 Triple-A frames.

Acquired from the A’s as part of the Jeffrey Springs trade back in December, Boyle appears to be the latest pitcher to find a new level of performance after joining the Rays organization. Boyle always had a ton of velocity and racked up plenty of strikeouts, but it seems like he has now lessened the control problems that plagued his time in the Athletics farm system. His emergence gives Tampa Bay yet another pitching weapon to bedevil opposing batters, and it will be interesting to see how Boyle is deployed beyond the end of this piggybacking experiment with Rasmussen.

Sunday’s game wasn’t without its concerns for the Rays, as Brandon Lowe left in the bottom of the third inning due to soreness in his left side. Lowe downplayed the seriousness of the situation when speaking with Topkin and other reporters after the game, saying that the removal “feels very precautionary, as it’s a little sore. Let’s just get off of it for a little bit and let it rest up.”

Lowe missed over a month of the 2024 season dealing with a right oblique strain, so he is no stranger to side injuries. Even if this latest issue costs Lowe a game or two, that is vastly preferable to another long-term absence, as injuries have plagued Lowe over the last three seasons. Lowe has stayed healthy and productive in 2025, and his .272/.324/.487 slash line and 19 home runs in 343 plate appearances earned the second baseman a spot on his second All-Star team.

In other infield news, Ha-Seong Kim made his Rays debut on July 3, but that remains his lone appearance due to a cramp in his right calf. It doesn’t seem like the injury is too serious, as Kim took part in most normal baseball activities prior to Sunday’s game. Kim is only just back in action after his recovery from offseason shoulder surgery cost him over half of the 2025 campaign, so it makes sense that the Rays don’t want to push him too soon.

Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

By Darragh McDonald | July 3, 2025 at 3:35pm CDT

The Rays have reinstated infielder Ha-Seong Kim from the 60-day injured list, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Infielder Curtis Mead has been optioned as the corresponding move. The 40-man roster already had a vacancy.

Kim, 29, spent the 2021 to 2024 seasons with the Padres. He didn’t hit much in his first North American season but was a bit above average at the plate in the next three. He slashed a combined .250/.336/.385 from 2022 through 2024, which translated to a wRC+ of 106.

That production made him a very valuable player, when combined with his speed and defense. He also stole 72 bases in 88 tries in that 2022-24 stretch. He played the three positions to the left of first base, with his glovework highly rated at all three spots. Put together, FanGraphs credited him with 10.5 wins above replacement for that span.

He seemed to be trending towards a nice market in the most recent offseason, with some suggesting a nine-figure deal as a possibility, before a shoulder injury intervened. He sustained the injury diving into first base on a pickoff attempt in August of last year. He ultimately underwent surgery in October, which put his 2025 timeline into question. Agent Scott Boras suggested late-April return would be possible. Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller floated a more nebulous “May, June, July” timeline.

That uncertainty naturally impacted his market and it seemed likely he would sign either a one-year deal or a two-year deal with an opt-out. Surprisingly, it was the Rays who ultimately took him off the board. In February, they signed him to a two-year, $29MM deal with a $13MM salary this year and $16MM next year, though with Kim having the opportunity to opt out after the first season.

That $29MM guarantee is the largest the Rays have ever given to a free agent position player but they are probably not planning to pay the whole thing. The ideal outcome here is likely that Kim returns and plays well enough to opt out, in search of a long-term deal. At that point, they can make him a qualifying offer and collect draft pick compensation as he departs. That’s contingent on him playing well over the next few months, of course.

In the meantime, he can help the Rays fortify a relatively weak position as they gear up for a playoff push. They Rays are 48-39, putting them in possession of a Wild Card spot and just half a game back of the Blue Jays and Yankees in the super tight American League East division.

They have done that despite getting little production from the shortstop position. As a team, they have a .201/.284/.280 line from that spot, translating to a 63 wRC+. Both José Caballero and Taylor Walls have produced good defense and stolen some bases but without providing much punch from the plate. If Kim can return to his old form, he should provide an upgrade there while bumping those two into bench infield roles.

Photo courtesy of Chadd Cady, Imagn Images

Rays Notes: Kim, Bigge, McClanahan

By Nick Deeds | June 29, 2025 at 8:37am CDT

The Rays signed infielder Ha-Seong Kim to a two-year, $29MM contract back in February but he has yet to play a game for the club after undergoing shoulder surgery late last year. That may be close to changing, however, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Kim is set to be evaluated for a possible return to the majors after he plays what could be his final rehab game with Triple-A Durham later today. Rays manager Kevin Cash suggested that the club is “very encouraged” by Kim’s progress, but president of baseball operations Erik Neander made clear that an immediate return to the majors is not guaranteed.

“We’ll get through these next three days and then just get an idea of where he’s at,” Neander said, as relayed by Topkin. “If he needs a little more time, we’ll be there to provide it. If he feels like he’s close and ready, then we’ll keep an open mind. We’re hopefully closing in on an activation but still kind of day-to-day to see how he responds to the added workload.”

When he does return, Kim will be joining a resurgent Rays club that has jumped out to a 47-36 record, just half a game back of the Yankees for control of the AL East thanks to a 17-8 run in the month of June. While the team has largely been firing on all cylinders in recent weeks, they have been forced to rely on somewhat middling production out of the shortstop position as Jose Caballero and Taylor Walls split time at the position. Kim is a 106 wRC+ hitter over the 2022-24 seasons and a Gold Glove caliber defender all over the infield, which should be a substantial upgrade over that duo’s lackluster hitting while maintaining the quality defense Tampa has gotten from the position.

Topkin also writes that right-hander Hunter Bigge’s recovery from surgery to repair multiple facial fractures after he was struck by a 105 mph foul ball off the bat of Adley Rutschman is going well enough that the Rays do not expect the surgery to interfere with his ability to return this season. Bigge remains on a soft food diet and has not yet been cleared for physical activity amid concerns that it would put stress on the surgically repaired areas of his face, but he’ll start playing catch once cleared to do so. Of course, Bigge was already shelved by a lat strain when he was struck by Rutschman’s foul ball, so Bigge will have to resume rehabbing that prior injury once he’s cleared for physical activity. Prior to those injuries, Bigge was making himself a major part of the Rays bullpen with a 2.40 ERA in 15 innings this year.

In other positive news, Topkin notes that southpaw Shane McClanahan is expected to throw a full-distance bullpen session this coming Tuesday. It will be the southpaw’s first full bullpen since he paused his rehab earlier this month to visit a nerve specialist. The lefty is surely still a ways away from a return given that he hasn’t resumed facing live hitters and would need a significant rehab assignment after such a long layoff from big league games, but with the Rays now firmly in postseason contention it’s not hard to imagine McClanahan taking a big league mound for the club at some point this year. Should McClanahan make it back in time for October, he’d form a terrifying one-two punch at the top of the Rays rotation alongside Drew Rasmussen.

AL East Notes: Bigge, Kim, Scherzer, Westburg, Gil, Williams, Weaver

By Leo Morgenstern | June 21, 2025 at 9:31pm CDT

In excellent news out of Tampa Bay, right-handed reliever Hunter Bigge is recovering well after undergoing surgery to repair multiple facial fractures (per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Bigge was hit in the face by a 105-mph foul ball off the bat of Adley Rutschman while watching Thursday’s game from the Rays’ dugout. Manager Kevin Cash told reporters today (including Topkin) that Bigge has been released from the hospital and returned home. There is no doubt the incident was terrifying, not just for Bigge but for everyone in either dugout at Steinbrenner Field. While Cash acknowledged that raising the screens in front of the dugouts probably isn’t an option, Topkin reports that the skipper will meet with his players to talk about potential adjustments. “We’ll talk through it,” said Cash. “And see what we can do.”

Bigge, 27, has not played since May 1 due to a right lat strain. Through his first 15 games in 2025, the hard-throwing righty pitched to a 2.40 ERA and a 3.99 SIERA. Indeed, he has been highly effective since he came to Tampa Bay as part of the trade return for Isaac Paredes. He has a 2.48 ERA and 3.22 SIERA in 28 appearances with the Rays. He does not yet have a timetable to get back to game action.

In additional Rays news, Ha-Seong Kim appeared in a rehab game yesterday, going 1-for-4 with a walk, two stolen bases, and a run scored. It was his first game in over a week; as Topkin notes, the Rays pulled him off his last rehab assignment on June 12 with right hamstring tightness. Kim’s strong offensive showing last night was surely good news for Tampa Bay. However, he played DH, and as he works his way back from shoulder surgery, the team’s biggest questions aren’t about his hitting or his baserunning but his ability to play shortstop. The Rays have already made it clear that they won’t reinstate Kim until he is ready to provide his typical Gold Glove-caliber defense at shortstop on a daily basis. So, tonight’s game, in which he’s playing shortstop, will be a much better test of his readiness to return. If it goes well, it might not be long before he finally makes his Rays debut. Topkin suggests Kim is unlikely to require the maximum 20 days of rehab before he is back with the big league club.

More from around the AL East…

Max Scherzer dominated Triple-A competition in his latest rehab start on Wednesday, striking out eight of the 17 batters he faced in 4 1/3 scoreless innings. However, Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reports that Scherzer’s “thumb/hand” was sore following the outing, so the Blue Jays have decided to push back his next bullpen session to Sunday, instead of today as originally planned. This won’t prevent him from rejoining Toronto’s rotation next week – presuming no further setbacks – but it now seems as if he’s looking at a Wednesday or Thursday return, instead of starting the series opener against the Guardians on Tuesday. The Jays have struggled to fill his spot in the rotation ever since he exited early from his first start of the season, so his return will be a highly anticipated event.
Orioles second and third baseman Jordan Westburg came back from a long stint on the injured list just last week, but he had a new injury scare this afternoon. He jammed his left hand into the bag as he stole second base and later exited the game. Following the contest, manager Tony Mansolino told reporters (including Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun) that Westburg had indeed jammed his fingers on the play, but X-rays were negative. The team is hoping it’s just a day-to-day injury and won’t force Westburg back to the IL. The All-Star infielder has been hitting very well since his return from a hamstring strain.
Luis Gil, the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year, has been out all season with a lat strain, but he’s making good progress toward his return to the Yankees rotation. Speaking to reporters before today’s game, manager Aaron Boone spoke highly of Gil’s performance in a live batting practice session (per The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty). Boone did not offer a timeline for the right-hander’s rehab, but he did compare Gil to a trade deadline addition, which suggests he could be back on the mound in late July or early August. Despite several major injuries, the Yankees rank eighth in starters’ ERA and fourth in starters’ SIERA this season. Gil’s return should make an already strong rotation even stronger.
In more Yankees news, Boone revealed on Friday that Devin Williams and Luke Weaver will share closing duties going forward (per ESPN’s Jorge Castillo). Williams is the bigger name with more experience in the role; he’s a two-time All-Star with 77 career saves. However, he struggled with his new team early in 2025, and Weaver stepped up to take over the closing job. Then, Williams moved back into his old ninth-inning role in June when Weaver hit the IL with a hamstring strain. He earned four saves in four chances over seven appearances, striking out 10, walking none, and giving up just one earned run. So, now that Weaver is healthy, it’s understandable why Boone wants to give both pitchers save opportunities. Weaver struggled in his first game back, giving up two hits, a walk, and a home run, but he didn’t seem overly concerned, telling Kuty, “I felt like my stuff was as good as it’s been all year, if not better.”

AL East Notes: Kim, Rays, Orioles, Red Sox, Dalbec

By Mark Polishuk | May 26, 2025 at 11:26pm CDT

Ha-Seong Kim began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham today, marking both his first official on-field appearance with the Rays organization and the first minor league game of his four-plus years in North American baseball, as Kim never saw any time in the minors when he was a member of the Padres from 2021-24. Kim underwent shoulder surgery last October, which chilled his free agent market and allowed Tampa to swoop in for a two-year, $29MM guarantee that allows the infielder to opt out after the 2025 campaign.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that Kim and four other injured Rays players (Jonny DeLuca, Jake Mangum, Travis Jankowski, Kevin Kelly) are all scheduled to be activated from the IL over the next few weeks, which might make for a bit of a roster crunch as the Rays figure out how to make room for everyone. Some holes will be created when some current players are optioned to the minors, though Topkin figures the Rays will at least check out the trade market to see if any of their surplus players could potentially draw interest from other teams.

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