Padres sign Ha-Seong Kim to four-year contract

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Padres have signed infielder Ha-Seong Kim to a four-year contract with a mutual option for the 2025 season, Executive Vice President/General Manager A.J. Preller announced today. To make room for Kim on the 40-man roster, the Padres designated Greg Allen for assignment.

In 138 games with the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) last season, Kim batted .306 (163-for-533) with a career-high 30 HR, .397 OBP, .921 OPS, 24 doubles, 109 RBI, 23 stolen bases, 111 runs scored and 75 walks to just 68 strikeouts. Among all KBO players, the 25-year-old ranked 3rd in runs scored, 5th in stolen bases, 6th in walks, 8th in total bases (279), 9th in RBI, 10th in HR, 11th in hits and OPS, 12th in AVG and 13th in SLG (.523). Kim also led his club in HR, RBI and runs. Defensively, he appeared in 96 games at shortstop and 55 games at third base.

Over a seven-year KBO career with the Heroes (2014-20), Kim posted a .294 (940-for-3195) average with a .373 OBP, .866 OPS, 191 doubles, 23 triples, 133 HR, 575 RBI, 381 walks, 134 stolen bases and 606 runs scored in 891 games. A native of Bucheon, South Korea, Kim earned the KBO Golden Glove Award at shortstop in both 2018 and 2019 and has played all four infield positions during his career (776 at SS, 106 at 3B, 6 at 2B, 1 at 1B). He was originally selected by the Heroes in the 3rd round of the 2014 KBO Draft from Yatap High School in Seongnam.