How will the Rays make room for Ha-Seong Kim?

TAMPA, Fla. — If all goes according to plan, Ha-Seong Kim’s debut with the Tampa Bay Rays should happen at some point next week when the team returns to Steinbrenner Field to play the Baltimore Orioles.

Kim signed with Tampa Bay in the offseason, which was one of the most expensive free-agent signings for the organization. Upon signing, the Rays knew the 29-year-old infielder would miss a chunk of the first half of the season after tearing the labrum in his right shoulder last August. Kim, who played his first four seasons with the San Diego Padres won a Gold Glove in 2023 and has 47 career home runs. He was seen as a noticeable upgrade, at least offensively, at the shortstop position for this team.

With Kim’s return imminent, the organization has a tough question to answer:

How do the Rays make room for their prized free-agent addition?

For this exercise, I will not talk about potential trades, but that is certainly an option.

First, Kim has to be taken off the 60-day Injured List and inserted back on the 40-man roster. This is the easy part for Erik Neander, Rays President of Baseball Operations. Richie Palacios has not played in a game since the middle of April. It would be a salient move to shift him to the 60-day IL since he has already missed close to two months already. Having said that, as first reported by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, Palacios is beginning rehab games in Port Charlotte, so his return could be imminent. If Neander does not want to put Palacios on the 60-day IL, he can shift Hunter Bigge there if he is not improving. Otherwise, there a handful of arms who could be designated for assignment. Either way, this is not the hard part.

OK, so the team puts him back on the roster. 

Now, who is the casualty?

The Rays recently sent down Chandler Simpson for Jake Mangum, which was an unpopular decision. Neander had no fun making that move, but they are logjammed at the moment. This move will be a similarly tough decision.

Let’s sort through all the options.

Misner survived the Mangum move, but he is someone we have to talk about again. Misner quickly became a fan favorite after hitting a walk-off homer on Opening Day. He finished the month of April with a .313 average and .901 OPS. He was genuinely looking like a Rookie of the Year candidate.

Regression hit him hard in May, though. He finished the month with a .138 average, .188 OPS and struck out in 34 of his 80 at-bats. As of June 8, he only had two hits in the month, one of which was a home run.

The reason Misner remains with the MLB club is because of his defense. 

Looking at the Defensive Runs Saved statistic on Baseball Reference, Misner is tied for 10th with a +3 Rdrs. Last season, Jose Siri was +12. So, Misner is not what Siri or Kevin Kiermaier were in centerfield, but he is still above average. Jake Mangum is +1 in that statistic. Chandler Simpson was -4. 

There is a world where the team can send down Misner, move Mangum as the full-time centerfielder and make Jose Caballero and Christopher Morel platoon. The only problem is who is the backup centerfielder?

Well, it is the same problem with Mangum. If he is sent down to Durham, who is playing behind Misner? At least Mangum is a switch-hitter, so he can play against lefties and righties. As for Misner, he should be sitting against most lefties. 

So, Mangum is important to the overall equation when the team has to play left-handed pitchers. As most Rays fans know by now, Tampa Bay struggles against LHP. As of June 8, the Rays were 20th in MLB against southpaws averaging .223 at the plate. That is an improvement from the first month of the season.

While Mangum has seen his average drop nearly 40 points entering Monday’s game against the Red Sox, he is still a spark plug for this team who provides positional versatility in the outfield. If he ever takes a night off, he would provide a boost on the base paths. 

Seems like a guy you would want to stick around. If the bat continues to stay cool throughout the week, this could be more of a conversation.

The roster tinkering is similar to Misner. Caballero becomes a predominant outfielder.

Let’s now talk about the guy who is losing his job. Kim was always seen as the Taylor Walls replacement considering Walls has a career .190 batting average. He has a career 67 OPS+. Entering Monday’s contest, Walls has 41 at-bats with runners in scoring position boasting a .171 average with 15 strikeouts and six walks. There is no easy way to say this, but he is a bad MLB hitter throughout a large sample size.

Having said that, his defense is Awesome with a capital A baby! (Happy birthday, Dick Vitale)

He is easily the best defensive shortstop this season and it is not particularly close. Walls is +12 Rdrs. Jeremy Peña of the Astros is next at +8 Rdrs. In fact, he is currently a strong candidate for a Platinum Glove Award, given to the best defensive player in both the AL and NL. Only Matt Olson of the Braves has a better Rdrs than Walls.

Now here is the good news: the Rays do not have to trade Taylor Walls.

They could always send him to Durham as he still has MiLB options. Having said that, Tampa Bay values defense immensely. Taking the best defender in MLB off the 26-man roster does not seem like a very Rays-like maneuver. If the Rays demote Walls, Caballero would back-up Kim at shortstop. Early on, Kim will likely need more off days coming back from a serious injury, but throughout the course of the season, he should be playing most games.

Another move Neander can make is sending Curtis Mead to Durham. After playing like the MVP of Spring Training, the start of the season could not have been any worse for Mead. In April, he had a .167 average with a .478 OPS. Mead made some tinkers with his stance and has been a decent contributor since. Since May 1, his average had jumped north of 50 points before Monday’s contest. He also had an eight-game hitting streak at one point in May. As for the defense, Mead plays a solid first base, second base and third base. So, his versatility aligns with Tampa Bay’s philosophy. 

Having said all that, Mead is supposed to be a left-handed hitting specialist. He draws most of his starts against lefties yet is hitting below of .200 against southpaws this season in 50+ at-bats. Mead will turn 25 years old in August, but he has had a taste of MLB action for three straight years and not really seized that opportunity. There might be a little bit of organizational fatigue here, but his ability to work at-bats is promising, he doesn’t whiff often and has solid exit velocity on batted balls. I do not know what we would learn about Mead in Triple-A other than getting consistent playing time. 

If Neander sent Mead down, Caballero would remain a super-utility option probably getting some more looks at second base. There is also the option of kicking Kim over to second base, especially late in games, and putting Walls at shortstop. If we are looking at the path of least resistance, this might be the one for Neander.

Finally, we have to talk about the prized return in the Isaac Paredes trade. Morel’s tenure with the Rays has been rocky. After sending Simpson down for Mangum, Neander insinuated on WDAE that Morel was on the proverbial clock to perform. Morel does not have MiLB options left, so the Rays would have to trade Morel or designate him for assignment. If the Rays DFA Morel, another team would likely claim him and that would be the end of that. 

The 25-year-old already shifted into a part-time role against left-handed pitchers. Just like Mead, he is hitting below .200 against southpaws. While Steinbrenner Field has not helped his power profile, it is puzzling why he has only hit eight home runs in 97 career games with Tampa Bay. His defense was always a concern, so if he is not hitting homers, he is a negative player on the roster. Morel just had a huge game against the Marlins going 3-for-3 with two homers, but how much weight can we put into one game? 

If Neander wants to move on from Morel, Caballero would almost certainly shift to a predominant outfield role. It is reasonable to think Neander does not want to give up on a guy who they believed in less than a year ago. He continues to show elite bat speed (88th percentile) and elite barrel percentage (93rd percentile). He pulls the ball in the air at an elite level. He is pulling the ball more than he ever has before in his career (57.3 percent). He still makes decent swing choices, despite the Rays telling him to swing more. So, theoretically, if Morel just made more contact, he would hit more home runs. The problem is that his whiff percentage is 37.9 percent (1st percentile).

What we have here are the elements of a guy who could become a prolific power hitter, but someone who is failing to put it all together. How long can Neander stay patient with Morel? My guess is a little bit longer, but his play will continue to be under a microscope.

So what is your decision? What would you do? Send your reply to @ECloskyWTSP on X.