Kim Ha-sung (29), a Korean baseball infielder, was not offered a qualifying offer from his original team, the San Diego Padres. Was he not interested in Kim Ha-sung in the first place.
According to the official U.S. Major League website MLB.com on the 5th (Korea time), the list of 13 people who received QOs from the original team was released, but Kim Ha-sung’s name could not be found.
The QO system, introduced in 2012, refers to the offer of one-year contracts by original teams to players who are eligible for FA. The amount is determined by the average annual salary of the top 125 players in the Major League. This year’s QO amount was set at $21.05 million (about 29.03 billion won), up from $20.32 million (about 28.03 billion won) last year.
Since the amount is by no means a small amount, the club has no choice but to carefully propose a QO to only the FA players who are essential. If a player accepts a QO, he or she can play for one year with the relevant salary. This time, Willie Adames (Miladelphia Brewers), who is considered the biggest fish in the FA shortstop, as well as sluggers Pete Alonso (New York Mets) and Corbin Burns (Baltimore Orioles) received the QO.
Since the introduction of the QO system in 2012, 131 players in the Major League have received a QO. However, only 13 players have accepted a QO. Consequently, the big enough FA players to receive a QO are not satisfied with the QO and want to go to the FA market for evaluation.
However, one of the most familiar players to us was Ryu Hyun-jin (currently Hanwha Eagles). Ryu received a QO offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers after the end of the 2018 season when his six-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers ended. After much consideration, he accepted the QO. At that time, the annual salary of QO was 17.9 million dollars (24.7 billion won). Only seven players received the QO offer that year, but only Ryu Hyun-jin accepted the offer. Regarding the reason behind the QO acceptance, he said, “I was confident in my physical condition and everything, so I accepted it. I thought I would have more opportunities in a year. I thought next year would be a better opportunity if I get better.”
Coincidentally, it was similar to the current situation of Kim Ha-sung. In the 2018 season, Ryu garnered outstanding performance with 7 wins and 3 losses and an ERA of 1.97 out of 15 games. However, he was away for more than three months due to groin injury. Eventually, he stayed away from the free agent market due to uncertainty over injury issues, and gained a year by accepting QO. The following year, Ryu eventually signed a four-year, 80 million-dollar contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Kim Ha-sung was replaced on August 19 when he felt pain in his shoulder during a game against the Colorado Rockies. Initially, there were predictions that the injury would not be serious enough to require surgery. However, as a result, this was Kim Ha-sung’s last game this season. Kim Ha-sung had surgery on his right shoulder joint last October, about two months later.
Kim Ha-sung entered the 토토사이트 Major League ahead of the 2021 season. At the time, he signed a four-plus-one-year, maximum contract of 39 million dollars (about 53.4 billion won). It was a four-year, 28 million-dollar guarantee contract. And with the end of this season, the four-year guarantee contract was finalized. If Kim Ha-sung and San Diego implemented their mutual options for the 2025 season, Kim Ha-sung could stay in San Diego for an annual salary of 8 million dollars. However, Kim Ha-sung rejected it and made the final decision to appear in the FA market.
Still, the San Diego Padres had a chance to catch Kim Ha-sung. It was to offer a QO. However, Sandae did not make such a decision. It can be interpreted that the value of Kim Ha-sung is lower than the annual salary of 21.05 million dollars. It was better than that. If San Diego had offered a QO, the team that would recruit Kim Ha-sung would have had to hand over the nomination rights for next year’s rookie draft to the San Diego Padres as compensation. However, the team did not even offer a QO and did not have to give up the nomination rights, freeing it from the issue of compensation. This means that smoother negotiations are possible.
The local evaluation of Kim Ha-sung is not bad. MLB.com selected Kim Ha-sung as “noteworthy among FA players who did not receive a QO.” Kim Ha-sung is a utility player who boasts the highest defense capability in the Major League. He can play various positions such as shortstop, second baseman, and third baseman. MLB.com selected the best FA (free agent) by position in 2025 ahead of the opening of this season, and Kim Ha-sung was proudly listed in the utility category. On the 4th, he ranked 25 best FA players this offseason, and Kim Ha-sung ranked second after Adames among FA resources with shortstop as his main position. What will Kim Ha-sung’s next season’s future be like.
