San Francisco Giants 'Covet' Gold Glove Infielder Despite Injury Concerns

Despite injury concerns, the San Francisco Giants reportedly are very interested in signing a Gold Glove-winning infielder.

Jul 26, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; San Diego Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim (7) walks to the dugout during the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Coming into this offseason, the San Francisco Giants have fewer areas they need to address after two of their young players arose as breakout stars and appear to be franchise cornerstones alongside some established veterans on this roster.

With Matt Chapman locked down at third base and Logan Webb leading the rotation, Heliot Ramos and Tyler Fitzgerald's emergence has given this team more cost-controlled building blocks new president of baseball operations Buster Posey can work with moving forward.

There are still needs the Giants need to address, though.

After coming up short of reaching the playoffs for the third year in a row, it's clear this team is not good enough to compete in their competitive NL West division and the National League as a whole.

Posey will be tasked with finding players who can directly impact winning, and according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, they have someone in mind who they want to pursue.

"It's no secret that the Giants covet San Diego Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, who will be a free agent ...," he reports.

What makes things interesting is the 2023 Gold Glove-winning shortstop underwent shoulder surgery in late-September, missing the playoff run for his team after he was sidelined since Aug. 20 with what was described as shoulder inflammation.

The late surgical procedure could keep him out until the middle of next year.

However, it doesn't seem like that will affect San Francisco's decision to bring him in or not, based on the interest Pavlovic pointed out.

He-Seong Kim is someone who has played under current manager Bob Melvin during his tenure with the San Diego Padres, continuing to get better in each year since coming over from South Korea ahead of the 2021 season on a four-year, $28 million deal.

With the Padres using a middle infield combination of Xander Bogaerts at shortstop and Jake Cronenworth at second base following the acquisition of Luis Arraez, the middle infield has become much more crowded for Kim.

That likely prevents him from re-signing with San Diego and opens the door for the Giants to land the elite shortstop who has a defensive bWAR of 7.4 and a slash line of .242/.326/.380 with 47 total homers and 200 RBI across his 540 Major League games.

Kim is someone who will continue to be mentioned as someone San Francisco is interested in, so this is something to monitor once free agency begins.