Padres Rumors: Writer Proposes San Diego Trades Ha-Seong Kim for Young Starting Pitcher

The Ha-Seong trade rumors continue to swirl for some reason.

The San Diego Padres will be set to make a deep run in 2023. They have the talent, the rotation, and the pieces to win their first title in franchise history; however, questions remain as to who could be a part of this potential championship run.

All off-season long, rumors have been swirling around Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim and if he could potentially be traded. 

The rumor wheel once again landed on Kim as Bleacher Reports Zachary Rymer created a trade package that lands Atlanta Braves righty Ian Anderson in San Diego.

The Proposal: Atlanta gets SS Ha-Seong Kim, LHP Adrian Morejon; San Diego Padres get RHP Ian Anderson 

A swap of Kim for Anderson, who fell out of favor with Atlanta in 2022, would be reasonably fair talent-wise, but less so the extent that Kim is signed through 2024 while Anderson is controlled through 2026. Thus, Morejon would also go to Atlanta to balance things out.

Kim had a solid second season in the bigs, as a slashed .251/.325/.383 with a .708 OPS while tallying 11 home runs and 59 RBIs for the Padres. Kim was the primary shortstop in 2022 as Fernando Tatis Jr missed the entire 2022 while recovering from a fractured left wrist and getting suspended 80 games after testing positive for a banned substance.

Anderson, on the other hand, had his worst season as a pro. The 24-year-old went 10-6 with a 5.00 ERA. 97 strikeouts and 1.51 WHIP in 111.2 innings. Anderson suffered a shoulder injury in mid-2021 and was never able to fully recover in 2022. 

We’re still a month and a half left till the start of the season, and a trade like this could really boost the Padres rotation by a mile. San Diego could look scary with a rotation of Darvish, Musgrove, Snell, Lugo, and potentially Anderson. 

Will San Diego be willing to let go of their 2022 gold glove finalist? We shall see.