Padres Send Song to Minors, Build Versatility

0:00On April 17, the San Diego Padres just brought infielder Sung Moon-sung back from the 10-day injured list after a rightle bleak strain, then, optioned him straight to triple A. El Paso. This 29-year-old slugger from South Korea's KBO League signed a 4-year deal worth $15 million guaranteed in the offseason. It's rare to send the guy with that kind of contract to the minors, but his deal lets the team do it without his okay. Having missed most of spring training with that injury, played just 8 Cactus League games before it flared up again and started rehab right after, opening day on March 27. In the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, he's batting 276 with a 364 on-base and 3-10s lugging over his rehab. Stint decent walks, but only two extra base hits out of 16. That's a 78-weighted runs creative plus, way below his KBO power, where he crushed 26 homers last year. Fans and analysts see the logic here, no spot for him behind stars like Manny Machado

1:03a third, Zander Bogart's at short, and Jake Cronin worth at. Second, plus Fernando Tatis Jr. sliding over sometimes, adding him would have meant designating a bench guy like Bryce Johnson or Ty France for assignment, but those dudes are struggling too, and Song ain't, forcing the issue yet. Now in El Paso, the Padres won him logging every day at bats to heat up that bat, while teaching him shortstop on top of second and third stuff he didn't play much in career. They even eyed outfield work before the injury, but that's on hold for now. This keeps the Big Lee roster steady, lets Song build versatility without service time games since his contract treats him as a free agent at the end, no matter what. Our play all around for the friars long game. Stay tuned with MLB News today, AI-powered updates, I'm Corey with the story.