The busy Padres appear to have landed one of the most coveted international free agents on the market, agreeing to a deal with infielder Sung-Mun Song, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand on Friday. The club has not confirmed.
The deal with Song comes mere hours after San Diego agreed to a deal to re-sign starter Michael King, according to a source.
Song is the latest star position player to come to the Major Leagues from Korea, following others like Hyeseong Kim, Jung Hoo Lee and Ha-Seong Kim who made the jump in recent seasons.
The 29-year-old was an All-Star third baseman for the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes who broke out over the last two seasons. He was posted by the Heroes on Nov. 22, opening a 30-day window to negotiate a contract with MLB teams.
In 2025, Song had a career-high 26 home runs and 25 stolen bases in 144 games, while batting .315 with a .387 on-base percentage, .530 slugging percentage and .917 OPS. He was voted the KBO Player of the Year by his peers in the Korea Professional Baseball Players Association.
The season before that in 2024, Song had 19 home runs and 21 stolen bases in 142 games while batting .340 with a .409 on-base percentage, .518 slugging percentage and career-high .927 OPS.
Song made his KBO League debut in 2015 at age 18, but it took the lefty-swinging infielder a while to come into his own as a hitter. But he turned into one of the best players in the league over the last two years.
Over his nine seasons in Korea -- which include Song missing all of the 2020 season and part of 2021 while fulfilling his military service -- Song had 80 home runs and 51 stolen bases in 824 games with a .283 batting average, .347 on-base percentage, .431 slugging percentage and .779 OPS.
In addition to third base, Song also has some experience at second base and first base in his career.
The Korean posting system is slightly different than the posting system for players from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, including the 30-day window to negotiate with MLB clubs vs. the 45-day window in the Japanese posting system.