Latest Ha-Seong Kim free agency prediction will leave Padres fans in mourning

Few teams in the league are set to lose more impactful players to free agency this offseason than the San Diego Padres. The club just recently had many players hit the open market, with most coming via unrestricted free agency. But one mutual option didn't go their way.

The losses of Jurickson Profar, Tanner Scott and even Kyle Higashioka may sting a little bit should the offseason shake out that way; but Ha-Seong Kim, the player who declined his end of a mutual option, may ultimately be the one that stings the most.

Kim, 29, is wrapping up a highly successful four-year run as a versatile Padres infielder. He's posted double-digit home run totals in each of the past three seasons while remaining a huge stolen base threat and playing well-above-average defense at as many as three positions around the infield.

In 2024, he spent a large chunk of time in the second half on the injured list, playing his final game on Aug. 18, and had what many would consider to be a down year. Even still, he hit over 10 home runs, stole over 20 bases, and put up a batting line that was just four percent below league average. His Savant page had a ton of red on it, though, which helps some of the under-the-surface numbers look a bit better.

This time of year, the rumor mill is pretty lukewarm as players are only in the beginning stages of talking to interested teams. That doesn't stop the speculation and predictions from flying, though. In a recent piece from Bleacher Report's Tim Kelly, he dropped a prediction for Kim's next team that will make Padres fans sick to their stomachs.

Bleacher Report drops worst-case landing spot for Ha-Seong Kim in free agency

Kelly has Kim ranked as the 18th-best free agent on the market this winter. He also has Kim signing with the Padres' arch-rival Dodgers on a one-year, $14 million contract. Gross.

Losing Kim to the World Series champs would absolutely be the worst-case scenario for the Padres. San Diego would love to bring him back, so don't downplay the role that familiarity plays when free agents are picking their new clubs.

The sad fact of the matter is that if the Dodgers pursue Kim, they're likely going to land him. They have deeper pockets than any other organization in the league and a clear history of winning that would entice virtually any player on the open market. Not to mention, they have at least one opening in their infield for the 2025 campaign.

Mookie Betts is reportedly moving back to the infield in 2025 and Freddie Freeman's got first base locked down. Max Muncy turned in a surprisingly decent showing at third base this past season, which leaves the unreliable Gavin Lux as the final and most replaceable infielder. Willy Adames and Alex Bregman make sense as external candidates (assuming they'd switch positions), but Kim could be had on a much, much cheaper contract and wouldn't need to be locked down for six or so years like the other two top infielders on the market.

Oh and don't forget that another NL West squad, the Giants, already reportedly expressed interest in Kim this offseason, too.

Losing Kim will ultimately be an extremely tough pill to swallow for the Padres, but all they can do is hope at this point that they aren't out-bid by one of their NL West rivals.