Angels linked to Hyeseong Kim & Anthony Santander
Dec 31, 2024 - Written by Bryan Whitfield
Photo Credit : @SD_SportingNews - X
The month of December has been an incredibly quiet month for the Angels as they haven’t made an impactful move since the Yusei Kikuchi signing in late November. They have however made a couple of minor league moves along with the Rule-5 Draft acquiring LHP Garrett McDaniels from the Dodgers. A couple of minor trades have also been made in which they acquired C Chuckie Robinson from the White Sox along with LHP Mitch Farris who they acquired from the Braves in exchange for Davis Daniel. Robinson will be the Halos third string catcher who will be called up only if a catcher on the major league roster gets injured. Farris on the other hand has only pitched in 3 innings at the Double-A level, he likely profiles as a long reliever and spot starter similarly to the role Daniel had with the team. Some impactful moves could be in order for the Halos as they have recently been linked to not one but two players that would certainly make an impact on the Major League roster, that being switch-hitting outfielder Anthony Santander and Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim.
Hyeseong Kim
Kim, 25, was posted by the Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO League on December 4th. Under the posting, Kim was granted 30 days to finalize a deal with a Major League team or he would have to stay in Korea for the 2025 season. January 3rd at 2pm PT is the deadline for when the 25-year-old has to have not only agree to a deal but have it finalized with his new team. Kim, who will be 26 on January 27th, is a 4x KBO Fielding Award Winner, one at SS in 2021 and has won 3 consecutive at 2B from 2022 through 2024. Kim is an elite contact hitter as he has a career .304 average in part of 8 seasons in the KBO. Hyeseong, no relation to Padres free agent Ha-Seong Kim, would provide the Angels with a great leadoff hitter with decent speed and could also fill in at SS to start the year if Zach Neto is still recovering from his shoulder surgery. In his career, Kim has seen his most time at 2B with 657 games and 284 games at SS. He has also played 19 games at 3B, 44 games in LF, and 1 game in RF, so Kim could provide the Halos with some defensive versatility.
It has recently been reported that Kim currently has 5 offers on the table around $20M over 3 years, that’s a very afforable average annual value of just $6.67M. The Angels, Reds, Mariners, Blue Jays and Padres are the five teams with offers on the table for the Korean infielder, the Mariners reportedly do not have the highest offer on the table.
At this current moment the Angels, Padres and Mariners are all logical fits that could easily give Kim playing time, while the Reds and Blue Jays aren’t obvious fits. The Reds have Elly De La Cruz and Matt McLain as their middle infielders while the Blue Jays are currently sporting Bo Bichette and recently acquired 2B Andres Gimenez.
The Angels could very easily shift Luis Rengifo over to 3B allowing Kim to be their 2B. For those worried if this could block top prospect, Christian Moore, he was seeing time at 3B and LF during instructs. They will certainly find a spot for his bat on the ror when he is ready.
The Padres are currently lined up to have Xander Bogaerts back at SS with Jake Cronenworth at 2B. They could very easily slot Kim in at 2B while moving Cronenworth to 1B, Luis Arraez, who isn’t very good defensively would move to DH. Bogaerts also has the flexibility to move to 2B if the Padres opt to play Kim at SS.
The Mariners have J.P. Crawford as their current SS and Ryan Bliss is set to play 2B for them in 2025. Bliss, 25, is a former 2nd round pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2021 MLB Draft. He was called up twice during the 2024 season and had 14 hits over 63 ABs in the 33 games he appeared in. The Mariners certainly could insert Kim at 2B over Bliss.
The Angels are in a great spot to acquire Kim’s services as they can provide him with both the playing time and have the money. The Mariners and Padres however don’t have much to work on in terms of salary flexibility to add Kim despite being a great fit for him.
Projected Lineup w/ Kim:
2B Hyeseong Kim
SS Zach Neto
CF Mike Trout
DH Jorge Soler
LF Taylor Ward
C Logan O’Hoppe
3B Luis Rengifo
1B Nolan Schanuel
RF Jo Adell/Mickey Moniak
Adding Kim would shift Anthony Rendon to a bench role or Luis Rengifo into a super utility role where he would play almost everyday with the ability to fill in at 2B, SS, 3B and the OF. Of course Christian Moore would also enter the equation once he is ready for a callup.
Anthony Santander
Photo Credit : @MLBTradeRumors - X
A shocking report by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press came out on Sunday connecting both the Angels and Blue Jays to All Star outfielder, Anthony Santander. Not only did he connect the two to Santander but he also described both as “frontrunners” to sign the switch hitting outfielder coming off a career year in Baltimore. Petzold is the Detroit Tigers beat writer who described Santander as the Tigers backup plan if they were unable to sign Alex Bregman who is currently their plan A. The Angels, Blue Jays and Tigers reportedly join the Yankees and Red Sox among suitors for the switch hitting outfielder. Santander is the top remaining outfielder on the free agent market and was seeking a five year deal even before the Dodgers resigned Teoscar Hernandez to an extension. Santander is expected to get anywhere between $20-25M annually meaning we could see a deal reach the $100M range in terms of the overall contract. Santander, 30, is coming off a career year hitting 44 HRs while driving in 102, he held a .235 AVG. Over the last three seasons, he has a .795 OPS/124 wRC+. He is very much a power over OBP guy and his defensive numbers aren’t great, but passable in a corner.
One issue with signing Santander would be the fact he has a qualifying offer attached to him. Meaning if the Angels sign him, they would have to forfeit their 2nd round pick which will be about 47 overall in the draft. On top of that, they’d also have to part with $500k in international bonus pool. The Angels do however have an extra 3rd round pick as they did not sign their 3rd rounder in the 2024 draft.
Bringing Anthony Santander to Anaheim would certainly boost the lineup and they’ve been scouring the market looking to bring in a left handed power bat. Santander being a switch hitter would bode well in bringing some balance to a right-handed dominant lineup. Per FanSided’s Robert Murray, “I can say the Angels have interest in Santander. He's drawing plenty of interest, that much I know. I don’t know if anything is imminent. But I can indeed say the Angels are interested. I have heard they are open to adding another bat. I don’t know if that's a Santander thing or another bat in general. That’s something I'm keeping an eye on. I can promise you Perry is not sleeping and is trying to upgrade his roster"
Projected Lineup w/ Santander:
LF Taylor Ward
2B Luis Rengifo
CF Mike Trout
RF Anthony Santander
DH Jorge Soler
SS Zach Neto
C Logan O’Hoppe
3B Anthony Rendon
1B Nolan Schanuel
The Angels would vastly improve the middle of their lineup having Mike Trout, Jorge Soler, and Santander bat next to each other in some combination. Adding Santander does raise a question as one of the Angels current outfielders would likely be traded, Taylor Ward, Jo Adell or Mickey Moniak. There is also the question of who will play centerfield as there have been talks of Trout moving to a corner in 2025, would that be Moniak or Adell? Or do they plan on bringing in a centerfielder via trade this offseason? Ward would be an obvious trade candidate as he has been all offseason long, you could trade him to help in another area whether that be an infielder or a starter.
What If?
There’s also the question of if the Angels could theoretically add both Hyeseong Kim and Anthony Santander. The Angels currently have an estimated payroll of $190M according to Fangraphs. In terms of the Luxury tax however, they are currently sitting at $207M. Meaning they could add both Kim and Santander this offseason with $34M left to spend prior to hitting the luxury tax of $241M. If the Angels gave Santander an average annual value of $25M and a Kim $6.67M, they would be left with $2.33M to spend. Now of course, knowing Arte, it’s very unlikely they get that close to the luxury tax, so if both are added, it would be increasingly likely that Ward, Tyler Anderson, Robert Stephenson or Evan White could be on the move to clear up some salary. Ward is estimated to make $8.75M in arbitration this season while Anderson is in the final year in which he’ll earn $13M. Stephenson and White are a bit of a different story, Stephenson is owed $11M each of the next two seasons after coming off Tommy John surgery, he also has a club option for 2027. White was acquired in the David Fletcher trade with the Braves last season and is owed $8M in 2025 and then 3 years of club options. There is a chance we see one of those players traded elsewhere to better allocate their money and even possibly allow the team to make more moves. Just for fun, let’s take a look at what the lineup could look like if the Angels were able to bring in both Hyeseong Kim and Anthony Santander.
Projected Lineup w/ Kim & Santander:
2B Hyeseong Kim
SS Zach Neto
CF Mike Trout
RF Anthony Santander
DH Jorge Soler
LF Taylor Ward
C Logan O’Hoppe
1B Nolan Schanuel
3B Luis Rengifo
This lineup would be a HUGE improvement from what the Angels ran out in 2024 as Kim could possibly give the Angels a solidified lead off hitter if his bat translates to MLB and Santander plus Soler would add a lot more much needed power in the middle of the order. It should be an interesting couple days ahead for us we should find out what Kim’s decision will be by Friday. Let us know what you think of Hyeseong Kim as well as Anthony Santander and if the Angels should acquire either of the two. Happy New Year to everyone, lets hope 2025 is a better year for our Halos!
Disclaimer : (1) All photos are not owned by InsideHalos and have been given proper credit beneath each photo. (2) Links of players are property of MLB, MiLB, and Baseball Reference. (3) InsideHalos is a fan-made site not affiliated with Angels Baseball.
