Padres Predicted to Bring Back 2 Key Players This Offseason in Massive Deals

Maren Angus-Coombs | Nov 4, 2024

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Major League Baseball's offseason is in for an exciting winter filled with a deep free-agent class featuring stars like Juan Soto and Corbin Burnes, alongside more contending teams than we've seen in years looking to enhance their rosters with key acquisitions.

Former big league general manager Jim Bowden gave 25 bold — and not-so-bold — predictions for the 2024-25 offseason including two moves that the San Diego Padres should make.

"The Padres re-sign both left fielder Jurickson Profar and shortstop Ha-Seong Kim as they opt to “run it back” with largely the same team in 2025," according to Bowden.

Bringing back Profar and Kim would come at a significant cost. Profar is projected to receive a two-year contract valued at around $25 million, while Kim is expected to command a four-year deal worth approximately $49 million. Altogether, the Padres would likely need to allocate about $79 million to retain both players.

Profar is coming off a season in which he posted a .280/.380/.459 slash line with 24 home runs. He has also expressed his desire to stay in San Diego.

"I want to be here," he told AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. "This team, I think they have all the things to win a World Series. Mike Shildt built a beautiful thing here. Hopefully, I'm part of it."

Last season, Profar accepted a one-year deal with San Diego worth $1 million, which was heavily based on incentives due to a lack of other offers. The Padres intended to utilize him as a bench player, a role that Profar was aware of from the outset.

Profar proved to be a crucial piece of San Diego's lineup and became an instant fan-favorite with his daily play in left field.

Profar ended the year in a slight slump and continued to struggle in the postseason, managing only a .200 batting average and failing to record any extra-base hits.

Meanwhile, Kim has opted out of his contract and has become a free agent leaving the Padres with a vacancy at shortstop.

However, general manager A.J. Preller has mentioned the possibility of bring Kim back on a new contract.

"He's a really talented and valuable player," Preller said. "From our standpoint, we'd love to bring him back. We've just got to get into [the offseason], see where that leaves us."

Kim posted a .242/.326/.380 batting line during his time with San Diego, highlighted by a standout 2023 season in which he earned the NL Gold Glove Award for utility players and received votes for down-ballot MVP.