Padres manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including AJ Cassavell of MLB.com) this evening that shortstop Ha-Seong Kim’s season is over. Kim later told reporters (including Cassavell) that he’s undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. The shortstop has been on the IL for over a month due to inflammation in his shoulder, and Shildt revealed yesterday that Kim might ultimately need to go under the knife to repair the labrum in his shoulder.
It’s a huge blow for a Padres club that has leaned heavily on the 28-year-old since he enjoyed a breakout season back in 2022. That year, Kim stepped in to replace troubled star Fernando Tatis Jr. at shortstop amid a lost season caused by off-the-field injuries and a PED suspension. He excelled in the role, hitting an above-average .251/.325/.383 (105 wRC+) in 150 games while playing strong defense at shortstop. Kim was pushed back to second base by the addition of Xander Bogaerts last year but took yet another step forward with the bat while playing slick defense across not only the keystone but also shortstop and third base as needed.
Last year, Kim slashed .260/.351/.398 with a wRC+ of 110 while swiping 38 bags in 47 attempts. That overall package was enough to earn Kim his first career Gold Glove award and even some downballot MVP votes. Coming off that strong season and a lackluster season defensively from Bogaerts, the Padres elected to switch the two entering this year to return Kim to shortstop. That seemingly set him up for what could be his third straight career year, but things didn’t play out quite that way as the infielder took a slight step back at the plate. In 121 games for the Padres this year, Kim posted a wRC+ of 101 while stealing 22 bases in 27 attempts. That down season has been further exacerbated by his shoulder woes, which have kept him from participating in the stretch run and now will remove him from San Diego’s postseason plans entirely.
Looking ahead for the Padres, it seems likely that the club will now stick with Bogaerts at shortstop headed into the postseason, as they’ve done since moving him back to the position earlier this month in response to Kim’s injury. It’s been a down season for Bogaerts overall as he’s been limited to just 110 games so far by injuries while posting a 94 wRC+ that’s his worst since 2014, but he’s managed to turn things around since returning from the injured list back in July with a solid .295/.336/.430 slash line across 259 plate appearances that’s good for a 116 wRC+. That’s opened second base up for regular starts from Jake Cronenworth, leaving first base available for a timeshare between Donovan Solano and Luis Arraez, the latter of whom also factors into the club’s DH mix alongside David Peralta on days he isn’t playing first base.
As for Kim himself, the shortstop will now head into free agency facing a new layer of uncertainty. While he’s still all but certain to decline his $8MM mutual option for next season in favor of a $2MM buyout, it’s possible that teams could be more hesitant to offer the versatile infielder a sizable multi-year deal this winter due to concerns about how his shoulder issues could impact him on both sides of the ball going forward. Kim appeared likely to be a consensus top infield option in free agency this winter behind Alex Bregman and Willy Adames, making it easy to imagine him landing a significant contract. Between his down 2024 season at the plate and now his impending surgery, however, Kim’s future seems a bit murkier than it did even a few days ago.
Good luck Ha-Seong!
Maybe Preller works his magic and re-signs him in the offseason.
They need too ! Him and profar put that offense on another level and that’s not an easy accomplishment in that ballpark
I doubt it I think the padres are still shedding some money
And besides they have other free agents like tanner scott
Eric Kutsenda said the Padres are set to go up to or over the CBT in 2025. They are under $190 million for 2025 so if he lives up to his word they have quite a bit to spend.
They definitely won’t be shredding more salary next year. According to the FO, this year’s reset on the CBT was purposeful for long-term going-for-it. And a playoff bid along with more games with sell-out attendance than any team in MLB this year, suggests they will be adding in 2025, not subtracting. They might have their sights on another SS though, maybe through trade not FA. The Padres look really strong for 2025.
I bet they can find room for Willy adames
“Ha-Seong limb”
“Ha-Seong limb”
Friars seemed to be playing fine without him.
Come on over to the Giants, Lee is here for ya!
No thanks. Wasn’t hot on this guy before the injury and now I’m downright cold.
But a player coming off injury is catnip for Farhan. Hopefully, Posey steps in again and extinguishes this.
Strong defense and a WRC thenlast three years. Giants could slide Fitz to second and go big on a first baseman and right field and resign Snell.
I’m ok with that davemlaw, Adames would be a good pickup, move Fitz to second, resign Snell or spend on Fried, maybe some wishful thinking on Soto or another power bat. What do I know.
@davemlaw….I really don’t see the reasoning there. Kim has a better WAR per AB vs. Adames for both 2024 and over their careers. Adames may have a higher ceiling but I think Kim has a much higher floor.
Kim can probably be had for fewer years AND lower AAV. I see him as a much better option than Adames.
With Chapman, Kim, Fitz (at 2nd) Bailey and Lee….the Giants would easily have one of the best defenses in MLB.
Kim probably was Zaidi’s primary target for Giants SS position.
Can Zaidi afford to pursue Kim with recovery time being 10-12 months (basically making him unavailable for 2025)?
Or, will Zaidi pursue other SS options like Adames or Bichette?
It won’t be 10-12 months.
It might not be 10-12 months, but even minor labrum surgery can impact a player’s first year back (see Bellinger).
Winslow, totally agree with the Gabe Kapler assessment, didn’t care for him at all, and you could be right about FZ, but as far as players go, I don’t buy that. Chapman wanted to stay, and signed an extension, and really like how Posey is getting involved. So let’s see this winter if your assessment is correct about no one wanting to lay there.
I really hope this is sarcasm. By all accounts he the heart and sole of this team and everyone loves him including us real padre fans!
Only true fans actually have hats due to their limited number. If you really do have a hat, then I will side with you on this debate.
I am not usually a member of the spelling police, but I have to point this one out. It is heart and SOUL, not heart and sole, You have got him as the bottom of the foot. Sorry, but I just found it humorous.
“You have got him as the bottom of the foot”
…Or possibly as a fish
A flat bottom-feeding fish.
hiflew
Huey Lewis agrees with you
Shouldn’t it be Heart and Seoul?
Burrito
Would that make his surgery “fillet of sole”?
That guy’s a tool…total troll
The heart and soul of the padres has always been profar… Kim is the player that gives it his all while having mucho stress
Johnny Mute
Of course you have a hat, otherwise everyone would see your Kim Jong-un style haircut.
I wouldn’t call it a “huge blow”, Kim’s been fairly meh this year. And it’s been assumed for some time now that he wouldn’t be back -the goodbye sort of happened some time ago. It will be great to have him in the clubhouse for the playoff run.
I agree that it is unfortunate and sad, but not a huge blow. That is no disrespect to Kim. San Diego has just had lots of other pieces to weather absences of key players this year.
Not a huge blow. This team is more than just one guy. That said, I chanted his name each time he came up to bat. I wish him a complete recovery and a great 2025 season, wherever he ends up.
No worries, SD has a whole team of shortstops to replace him. Even their pitchers are shortstops!
And some of their SSs are pitchers (Cronenworth)
That’s too bad. Sucks to not be able to be a part of the playoff run.
Good on Kim for being a consummate baller and teammate. He will be missed if he departs Aan Diego.
Ha Sing’s defense is practically perfect. If he improves a bit offensively he could become a huge star.
@mlb fan
He seemed well on his way to providing, ahem, “elite” offense last year. Or at least above average offense.
Unfortunate to regress in his platform year, but someone will pay him decent money for the glove.
“Aan Diego” was supposed to read “San Diego”, obviously.
How’s he a cancer ?
“How’s he a cancer”….Don’t take the bait. That guy doesn’t know what goes on in the Padres clubhouse anymore than you or I.
He’s just trying to insult well liked players, to get under your skin. Leave him alone and he goes away on his own. Remember, don’t take the bait.
and all that sneaking around San Diego eating people’s pets, distractions the team just doesn’t need right now.
“Eating people’s pets”…Racial humor is either really, really funny or in bad taste and offensive. Care to guess which one your’s is?
MLB
Respectfully, I did not see Case’s post as “racial humor”, but rather as a subtle dig against the politicians who propagated those false pet-eating rumors. That being said, we don’t need the political satire here either, not even from childless cat ladies.
Let’s just get whatever digs make sense. How long have you been commenting here? Okay, great.
I’m going to need more information for an informed guess.
What type of racial humor do you find really, really funny?
@MLB top 100 Commenter
How about satire from childless lizard men?
Case
As long as they don’t make fun of the Snakes’ fans.
That’s too bad. He’s definitely had a down year, but he’s a fan favorite who plays hard and has good energy. Hoping he bounces back from the surgery and has a good 2025, whether that’s with the Friars or another squad.
Great player, fun to watch. Hopefully, he comes back next year.
Grade 3 slap tear. He will be out until June-July.
Are you just making stuff up? Kim has been swinging a bat with little trouble. A grade 3 tear would preclude that.
BIL is right about the injury. That is what Acee said the injury was. Tatis played most of the 2021 season with a grade 3 tear to his non-throwing arm from an injury he sustained on April 5th, 2021. He didn’t have surgery on it until September of 2022.
Man, Acee is like Jon Heyman covering the Yankees in The NY Post. I’m skeptical of anything he writes. At least Heyman isn’t abrasive. Even Mike Schildt dislikes him.
reddit.com/r/Padres/s/rlAW9Dcooz
@Yankees
I wouldn’t read into one frustrated exchange between Shildt and Acee that Shildt doesn’t like him. The nature of the relationship is for the reporter to put the manager on the spot, so that can naturally get dicey. I’d like to think everyone in the room can recognize the game, and go have a beer when it’s done.
Your assessment seems realistic. Shoulder labral repair surgery of a grade 3 SLAP tear to a player’s throwing arm means that 24-30 weeks after successful surgery he will be able to return to sports specific exercises and weight training.
He would likely need a rehab assignment once he is deemed game ready. So, if all goes according to plan, Kim could be in a major league uniform by the All-Star break.
And even when he’s back mid-summer, there is a history of players struggling at the plate after labrum surgery. So his value 2nd half of next year doesn’t seem up to his averages. How old will he be in 2026?
@Brew88 Kim will be 30 in 2026.
Which makes the timing of this injury doubly unfortunate, as right now is the best window for Kim to get his best long-term payday, agewise.
I know he’s already wealthy (relative to the average fan), but this is still really tough news for him. His decline in performance this year won’t help him either, but I’m sure he’ll still get a solid contract given he’s an elite defender at a most difficult position.
Joining the IL with Hie Noe Pitch.
There had to be value in starting and completing your rehab with the same medical group and coming back with a coaching staff who knows you.
In this case taking $8 million to do so and set yourself up for a better platform year might make sense.
Actually it would be $6m because the option has a buyout.
Probably no budget to resign him if he’s gonna miss part of 2025. Arraez, King & Cease will get raises via arbitration, they’ll likely pay Profar to stick around the good news is they have a pretty complete team at that point.
A lot hinges on whether or not ownership is keen to go past the first luxury tax threshold in 2025, after having successfully reset it this year. If they don’t mind paying the “first year” penalty, that opens up a lot more payroll flexibility.
The even bigger deal is what they do when Cease, King, and Arraez are all free agents after 2025.
If both Kim and Peralta exercise the player side of their options and all the arb cases including Arraez, Cease, and King hit at the MLBTR estimates, the Padres payroll will be under $190 million. Cots estimates $186 million and Roster Resource estimates $184 million, which is $54-56 million below the CBT threshold.
That does not include bringing back or replacing Profar, Solano, Higgy, or Tanner Scott. All 4 could be signed for $12-15 million with Profar taking the lion’s share of that,
If the Padres decline their end of Kim’s mutual option, the buyout would be $2 million and their CBT payroll would be at or under $180 million. That would leave them $60+ million to sign back a few players and another $45 million to fill holes.
WebSS
I think you underestimate the cost of bringing some guys back.
I predict Tanner Scott will get 2-3 years at $12 million per year.
I predict Jurickson Profar will get two years at $10 million per year.
I predict Higgy will get one year at three million per year.
Although it is totally unfair, Solano might not get a guaranteed major league deal until a few weeks before Opening Day.
I see the Padres letting another team pay big money for Tanner Scott. I see the other three returning. I see an extension for Cease, but not for Arraez.
@MLB Top 100
The league has devalued hitting for pure average to the point where Arraez might be easier to sign long-term than Cease.
Of course, the Pads doing that would tend to lend against bringing back Kim. I don’t know if they are going to want to pay Arraez just to be a DH when they can put Bogaerts back at shortstop, Cronenworth back to second base, and Arraez at first (the current Kim-less configuration).
I wonder if they might try and extend King this offseason? He might be open to it with a reasonable offer after a career as a reliever. The big money for him though would be to repeat his 2024 and hit free agency. Doesn’t hurt to check if he’s willing to take a discount for guaranteed money now.
King long term will be more than Musgrove money
It’s sounds like via reporting Kim will opt out. Which makes sense with his 2m buyout. He will still likely get a deal above the 6m he left on the table. If he has surgery by the beginning of October. It would give him 6 months to recover before the season starts. So he would likely be back around then or shortly after.
Of course nobody knows what his production will actually be, though I could still see a team taking a chance on him since most of his value is via defense, stealing and walking.
Cots estimates $186 million
Cots estimates $186 million
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Arraez $14M
Cease $13M
King $8M
Adam $4M
No less than $13M for the control guys + 1st year arb guys like Campusano.
Without adding another player, the Padres are up against the cap. Unless the structure changes, you cannot get Kim or Profar, or any other pieces without breaking the cap.
The arb eligible guys are included already in the Cots estimates. The Padres are about $54 million under the CBT threshold for 2025 including the arb eligible guys.
BaseballisLife
The arb eligible guys are included already in the Cots estimates.
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From Cots-
Bogaerts $25M
Musgrove 20
Machado 32
Darvish 18
Tatis 25
Suarez 9
Cro 11
Peralta 4
Matsui 6
Hosmer 17
Bonus Pool 2
Benefits 18
Including rounding, that $186M and does not include the arbitration guys.
Joe-
It’s definitely from a tax side of payroll over 186m. Nearly 186m with just what you wrote down and I’m not sure what bonus pool 2 equals but that could put them right at 186.
Either way they are above it when you add in all the arb guys. Think the arb guys are Cease, king, Arraez, morejon and campy. Just a guess without looking at what they all got last year probably around 40m in arb guys. If that’s close then 226m towards the tax as is.
Which would only leave them about 15m to stay under the tax line. So unless they move some money they will nearly certainly have to go over the tax line. Probably means letting Scott and Kim walk. Bring back profar, solano, peralta and Perez. Not sure they can do that and stay under.
Anyways it’s a useless to try and figure out without knowing what the spending plan is.
Sorry you can’t do simple arithmetic and don’t realize those are the salaries they will be paid for 2025 and not their AAV.
Baseballiife-
So you are talking actual payroll vs Joe talking about the lux tax numbers.
Also there is no reason to be rude. People here disagree or are on different pages all the time. Can have a civil disagreement without feeling like you need to put someone down with insults.
BaseballisLife
Sorry you can’t do simple arithmetic and don’t realize those are the salaries they will be paid for 2025 and not their AAV.
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Wrong again. Just taking Tatis as the obvious example, his salary in 2025 will be $20.7M. His AAV will be $24.3M, as listed above. LMK if I am mistaken.
But that’s not the important part. The important part is, why would you bother to argue when you are obviously wrong. I went to the trouble of listing each individual component so you could follow. And i am not creating my own numbers. These are taken 100% from Cots. Unless Cots made a serious error, then the chances of me being wrong is exactly 0%.
So you are talking actual payroll vs Joe talking about the lux tax numbers.
==============================
Thank you, but BIL knows both of us were referring to AAV. At the end of the day, depending on how close my arb numbers (and it won’t have a material impact), the Padres have almost no room to spend without breaking the cap.
And FWIW, the bonus pool of 2 is $1.667M for “0- to 3-year bonus pool”. Cots adds the same amount for every team,. My pure guess is that this is what MLB owes in total and Cots just divides it by 30 teams.
Okay, I predicted $39M, and MLB-R just projected $41.5M. I think I did okay with that. But that is also $2.5M less cap space for the Padres.
Though I don’t think any of them are complaining right now.
Web, I think you are pretty close on those estimates, except Scott. $7-8 million per year on a 3 year deal for Profar. Similar money for Scott. $2-3 million for Solano and Higashioka. $20-22 million total. It’s doubtful the Padres bring them all back, but money would not be an issue if they wanted to do that even at the top end of that range.
I don’t think Scott will be back out of all the dudes. I also think he will get more than 7-8m or 21-24m. Prob closer to 50m mark in my eyes. Heck he may even get even more than that.
People think profar may get as much as 15m a year. I think it will be closer to 10m. Profar coming back will largely depend on if he wants the top dollar or be a padre. I know he wants to be a padre but I don’t think they will offer him the most amount of money. This is his best chance at getting paid.
I don’t expect Kim to be back.
Solano and Peralta I could see coming back on 1 year deals.
Nobody really knows how much the padres will be willing to spend this next season. There is some advantages of keeping the payroll under the tax again next year with all the big free agents the year after in Arraez, Cease and king. QO’ing all three if not brought back can yield some nice draft picks. With that said one could argue next year is a good year to spend on free agents since those guys will all be free agents the year after. It will be interesting to see what they do.
Do you pay attention to the chats on this site? They have discussed what to expect for many of the FA to be including all 4 of the guys we are discussing here. That is why I mentioned those numbers specifically. Because the writers on this website have mentioned those numbers.
I read just about every chat on here. This is the place that mentioned profar getting around 15m. Btw you could ask each one of these writers and they will give you different guesses on what someone will get.
As a Padre fan, I enjoyed watching Kim but we don’t need him. I rather spend money on Cease, Scott, King, and Arraez. I think it should be Machado, Bogey, Crone and Arraez.
I like Ha-Seong Kim, but predict we’ve seen the last of him in a Padres Uniform. He is going to demand too much money….
Considering the payroll reductions between 2023-2024 the San Diego Padres have had a sensational season! I believe Preller went ALL-IN at the trade deadline because he knows his payroll limitations will ONLY get worse in 2025, AJ Preller has difficult decisions coming…..
Ha-Seong Kim, Tanner Scott and Jurickson Profar will all be free agents. Don’t forget, Preller got Profar to come home on a one-year bargain contract. I’m sure Profar will want to remain, but he’ll seek and deserves a raise. Luis Arraez is being paid by the Marlins this season. He is arbitration eligible. Dylan Cease and Michael King are also arbitration eligible. I hope Ha-Seong is the only player the Padres lose next season…..
You maybe right on all accounts. We just don’t know yet what the budget will be. Was this just a reset of the tax or is this the new norm.
Kim feels like a Preller specialty. Pay him whatever fits under the cap, and give him all sorts of options. He’s a fine player.
Preller definitely isn’t afraid of handing out options. Though I think Kim isn’t going to be back. Hard to tie up money on a guy you just don’t know what you are going to get.
Learned on the Padres website that the option for Kim is $10 million with a $2 million buyout.
They said on the post game that the surgery will keep him out of action for 8 months. So soonest he would be able to do a rehab assignment would be June of next season.
Ryan, articles on the Padres said its a $10 million mutual option.
mlb.com/padres/news/ha-seong-kim-shoulder-surgery-…
Why does a guy that is not a Padres fan know more about what is on the Padres website than you do? Why are you quoting Spotrac instead of the Padres website?
He won’t be a Padre in 2025 if he opts out.
For those arguing about Padres payroll like JoeBrady and Basebalislife, Cots shows the Padres having $149.91 million in guaranteed CBT salaries for next year plus an estimated $36 million for Hosmer, player pool, and player benefits for a total of $186 million. That doesn’t include about the $49.6 million in estimated arbitration salaries this site just released. That would put them around $235 million or about $6 million under the CBT threshold for 2025 before resigning Profar and Higgy, and making any other additions.
None of that precludes the Padres signing or trading for players since Kutsenda has made it clear that they are willing to go over the threshold in the future.
That number does include Kim opting in at $10 million and Peralta opting in.
Kim still isn’t opting in. That’s just you wanting him to opt-in.
It’s the other way. It includes Peralta, but not Kim. Peralta is kind of small potatoes and I’d call that a coin flip with him favored tp stay. Just a guess on Kim, but I think Preller pre-empts Kim’s decision.
But that almost certainly means breaking the cap.
That would put them around $235 million or about $6 million under the CBT threshold for 2025
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Basically what I told Websoulsearching, though I’m closer to $238M. Why he chose to argue with me basically quoting Cots’ number is beyond me.
One could argue around the margins, but the Padres are up against the cap.