"Song Sung-moon Undervalued," MLB's Top 3 Overall, Green Light to Guarantee SD Main Players

*This content was translated by AI.

Contrary to concerns, will Song Sung-moon (30, San Diego Padres) be able to take the starting position from the first season of the big league. The U.S. media cited Song Sung-moon as one of the undervalued players.

U.S. media Yardbarker published an article titled "Three undervalued Major League Baseball (MLB) recruitment that can achieve better-than-expected results in 2026."

Among the players recruited in the stove league, Song Sung-moon's name came out among those who were not properly evaluated compared to their potential to show off their value in 2026.

Song Sung-moon has performed tremendously in the KBO League the past two seasons. Since his professional debut in 2015, he has been close to unknown, and his position in the team was unclear, let alone MLB, but he rebounded in 2024 and last year became the league's best third baseman in both offense and defense.

Song Sung-moon, who expressed his intention to enter MLB through the posting system, signed a four-year, $15 million contract with San Diego just around the corner with the contract deadline.

Song Sung-moon's annual salary last year was 300 million won. In terms of annual salary, the value has jumped 18 times. However, he is by no means a expensive player in the big league. The media evaluated Song Sung-moon as a player who can expand his value of more than $15 million.

"All three top international FA players (Imai Tatsuya, Murakami Munetaka, and Okamoto) have signed contracts," the media said. "In recent weeks, these three players have dominated the headlines, but there have been many FA players who have not received that much attention."

Song Sung-moon was listed with Nick Torres (33, Minor League contract), who plays both first baseman and outfielder for the New York Yankees, and Tyler Austin (35, one-year, $1.25 million) of the Chicago Cubs.

The media explained, "Song Sung-moon's repertoire of KBO star infielder Song Sung-moon is very similar to Kim Hye-sung (Dodgers), a former Kiwoom Heroes teammate."

In reality, there were some differences. He played in all 144 games last year and posted a batting average of 0.315 26 home runs, 90 RBIs, 103 runs and 25 steals, a on-base percentage of 0.387, a slugging percentage of 0.530 and an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.917. Kim Hye-sung recorded a batting average of 0.326 11 home runs, 75 RBIs, 90 runs and 30 steals, a on-base percentage of 0.383, a slugging percentage of 0.458 and an OPS of 0.841 in 2024, just before entering the big league.

Considering that last season was a pitching and hitting pattern, Song Sung-moon's destructive power was much greater. Earlier, Francis Romero, a reporter from the National Baseball Journalists Association (BBWAA), said, "A scout evaluated his talent at the middle level between Kim Ha-sung and Kim Hye-sung and analyzed that he was close to Kim Ha-sung, but his long-shot and defense skills were somewhat inferior." Looking at the two seasons just before entering the big league, it is true that he resembles Kim Ha-sung rather than Kim Hye-sung, but it is hard to say that his slugging power is weak. Of course, the defense was focused on third base, so it is true that there are questions about whether he can take good charge of the first and second bases.

The media said, "He blew up his potential. In the new team, San Diego, Song Sung-moon can enter the first base or second base depending on where Jake Cronenworth plays, he said. "The transfer of Ryan O'Hearn and the release of Luis Arraez and Jose Iglesias as FA opened the possibility that the right line of the San Diego infield will become Muju Gongsan." This provides both Cronenworth and Song Sung-moon with an opportunity to become everyday stars."

Earlier, San Diego manager Craig Stammen seems to be even planning to use Song Seong-moon as an outfielder. It means that he believes in his defensive ability and at the same time believes that giving him a chance to hit will help the team.

Is it because there are previous success stories. Despite being less recognized than players who entered the big leagues first, such as Kim Ha-sung and Kim Hye-sung, the local government began to carefully express positive prospects for Song's success.

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*This content was translated by AI.