This post was originally published on this site.
Ha-Seong Kim is back in Atlanta after signing a $20MM deal to remain the club’s starting shortstop. He took a one-year contract that’ll allow him to get back to free agency after what he hopes to be a healthy season. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported last night that Kim had declined multi-year offers.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes that the A’s proposed a four-year, $48MM deal. It’s unclear if that would have included any opt-out opportunities, though it seems safe to assume they wouldn’t have risked a four-year commitment that allowed him to opt out after just one season. The A’s have a franchise shortstop in Jacob Wilson but are looking for second and/or third base help.
Kim bet on himself with a straight one-year deal at a higher rate. Gleyber Torres accepted a qualifying offer, while Jorge Polanco commanded $20MM annually on a two-year contract from the Mets. The A’s certainly aren’t going to sign Bo Bichette or Alex Bregman to contracts north of $150MM. Rosenthal writes that NPB stars Munetaka Murakami and Kazuma Okamoto are also expected to be out of their price range. Eugenio Suárez might be a long shot, as he command a similar annual salary to Kim and Polanco over two or three years.
There’s a significant drop from there in free agency. Willi Castro, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Yoán Moncada, Luis Rengifo and KBO hitter Sung-mun Song are all one-year deal candidates. Song and Castro are probably the best bets to command a multi-year contract. The former at least comes with some intrigue as an upside play after consecutive strong seasons in Korea, but scouting reports raise questions about his pure hitting ability. The market for Song has been quiet publicly, but he’ll need to sign by Sunday or stay with the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes for the ’26 season.
The second base trade market has gotten more attention. Ketel Marte and Brendan Donovan are the prizes, but the A’s aren’t great fits in either case. Marte’s six-year, $102.5MM contract is well below market value but would easily be the largest deal in A’s history. Donovan is affordable for any team, but the Cardinals are prioritizing controllable starting pitching. The A’s have a few talented arms (e.g. Luis Morales, Jacob Lopez, Braden Nett) who might appeal to St. Louis, but a lack of rotation depth is already the roster’s biggest flaw.
The Rays are open to offers on Brandon Lowe, who’ll make $11.5MM in the final year of his contract. Rosenthal writes that Tampa Bay isn’t interested in accepting a lowball offer merely to shed the salary. President of baseball operations Erik Neander said at the Winter Meetings that the Rays would be happy carrying Lowe and Yandy Díaz into the season. The Mets are shopping Jeff McNeil, but they’d probably need to eat a portion of the $17.75MM remaining on his deal. Impending free agents Nico Hoerner and Jazz Chisholm Jr. have come up loosely in trade rumors yet seem unlikely to move.
Speculatively speaking, Jake Cronenworth could be a potential fit. The Padres owe him $12MM annually through 2030. That’s a year longer than the A’s were willing to go on Kim but matches the average annual value they offered over four. A willingness to spend $12MM per season on Kim doesn’t necessarily mean they’d do the same for Cronenworth, who is a superior hitter but not as good a defender. Still, the Padres have looked for ways to clear payroll space to free money for their own rotation needs, so it’d make sense for the teams to explore trade scenarios.