One of South Korea’s top pitchers, 26-year-old left-hander Kwang-hyun Kim, may become a member of the San Diego Padres in the coming month after the SK Wyverns (Kim’s Korean team) accepted the Padres $2 million posting bid Tuesday night, according to a release from the Wyverns’ official website.
General Manager A.J. Preller was able to sell low on the South Korean star, as it was speculated that the Wyverns may not have accepted the bid because they were expecting an offer around $10 million.
Kim, who is regarded as the country’s “ace”, finished 13-9 with a 3.42 ERA in 2014, and will now have 30 days to negotiate a contract with the Padres.
“Now that I’ve been given a chance to try to reach the Majors, which has been my lifelong dream, I’ll try to make the best of the situation and prove myself on the biggest stage,” Kim said in a team statement. “I will go back to the drawing board and prepare the best I can.”
If the Padres are able to reach an agreement with Kim that would leave a surplus of starting pitchers in the rotation, and according to Fox Sports reporter Ken Rosenthal the Padres are listening to trade offers for their “big three” pitchers (Tyson Ross, Andrew Cashner and Ian Kennedy) in order to free up rotation space, and add offense.
#Padres continue to listen on three best starters – Kennedy, Cashner, Ross —as they look for offense. All different levels of club control.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 12, 2014
However, the team may opt to make Kim a middle reliever instead, something the Padres saw as an option when scouting him initially.
This is not the first time the Padres have received inquiries on their young trio of pitchers. Last season Kennedy was nearly dealt at the non-waiver trade deadline in August, and Ross — an All-Star in 2014 — also had some interest from teams, but San Diego was not interested in trading him.
It’s not clear yet which teams have reached out to the Padres in pursuit of their pitchers, but it’s clear that the team is looking for offensive help in return.