Padres May Have an Advantage In the Jung Hoo Lee Sweepstakes

San Diego may have some tricks up their sleeve.

One player the Padres are showing heavy interest in this offseason is Korean outfielder Jung-Hoo Lee. Lee has been able to talk with MLB clubs after being posted by his KBO team recently.

It's been reported that multiple teams are going after Lee, including the NL West rival San Francisco Giants. Losing out on Lee to the Giants would be a tough blow to San Diego.

However, it seems that the Padres could have an advantage over teams like the Giants in the race for Lee.

"Most notably, Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim is Lee’s best friend, a former Kiwoom Heroes teammate and a Gold Glove Award winner who could directly ease Lee’s transition to the U.S."

Per Dennis Lin of The Athletic

If Ha-Seong Kim is the reason that Lee joins the Padres, he will be loved even more by the fans in San Diego. Lee may prefer to join a place that he is comfortable with, and the Padres could certainly use his bat.

Last season, Lee slashed .349/.421/.575 with 23 home runs. His bat would give the team another left-handed power bat, replacing star Juan Soto in the lineup.

Lee isn't Soto, so fans should be expecting that level of production. But he is a good replacement and will come for far less money than what Soto would have cost the front office.

It remains to be seen if Lee will ultimately end up with the Padres, but they are trying their best to land him. If a bidding war breaks out, San Diego will probably fall short, but all they can do is try.