The San Diego Padres are full of star players. There are many All-Stars players, including Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Jake Cronenworth. There is another big name moving in the same group as these players: Kim Ha-sung.
At the San Diego camp, where spring training will be held in Peoria, Arizona, US, five players, Machado, Bogartz, Tatis, Cronenworth and Kim Ha-sung, will participate in batting and defense training as a group. Except for Kim Ha-sung, all four of them are long-term contractors and their salaries are high.
After Tatis signed a 14-year, $340 million ultra-long extension in February 2021, the Bogaerts joined San Diego in December 2022 on an 11-year, $280 million free agent deal. Machado then signed an 11-year, $350 million contract in February last year and Cronenworth signed a 7-year, $80 million contract in April.
The four players are worth a whopping $1.05 billion. Among them is Kim Ha-sung. Kim Ha-sung, who signed a four-year, $28 million contract with the San Diego Padres in January 2021, will become a free agent after the end of this season. As big contracts worth more than $100 million are expected, these players can be grouped into San Diego's Big Five.
With each training session, fans and media attention is focused on the Big Five, a group of five star players. In his fourth year with San Diego, Kim has completely melted into the group. They practice together with bright expressions and exchange jokes with each other. Sometimes an interpreter is needed, but most of the time, Kim speaks directly.
In the opening game of the exhibition game against the LA Dodgers at Peoria Stadium on the 23rd (Korea time), Kim Ha-sung ranked fifth after No. 1 Tatis (right fielder), no. 2 Bogaerts (second baseman), and No. 3 Cronenworth (first baseman). He started as a shortstop. All four players, except Machado, who is recovering from elbow surgery, were listed in the starting lineup, but all four of them did not play in the game against the Dodgers at Glendale Camelback Ranch on the 24th and stayed in Peoria.
“I don’t think it’s me,” Kim Ha-sung said in an interview with a domestic reporter after the game on the 23rd, waving at the expression “Big 5.” "We don't talk much about baseball, but we laugh and play around. When (dialogue) is difficult, an interpreter is next to us to help us, but we try to do most of the conversations," he said.
Kim Ha-sung answered modestly, but no one can deny that he is one of the "Big Five of San Diego." Tatis, who saw Kim Ha-sung surrounded by Korean reporters on his way home from work, acknowledged his popularity by saying, "He's so popular."
On this day, Kim Ha-sung's popularity was felt on the field. Whenever Kim Ha-sung came out to bat, the crowd cheered loudly and chanted “Ha-sung Kim.” "I really like San Diego. I don't want to leave," said Kim Ha-sung, who is being traded as a prospective free agent candidate. “If I go to another team, I wonder if they will like me as much as the San Diego fans.” On this day, Kim Ha-sung also thanked the San Diego fans for always supporting me and calling my name a lot."먹튀검증디비