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San Diego Padres stand third in power rankings

Posted March. 30, 2023 08:10,   

Updated March. 30, 2023 08:10

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The San Diego Padres, Kim Ha-sung’s current affiliation, have never been atop the World Series in the Major League Baseball until last year. The team advanced to the World Series twice in 1984 and 1988, but hopelessly failed on both occasions.

The constant top dogs in the Western Division of the National League including San Diego are the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers won the division nine times and the Giants once over the past 10 years.

However, watchers say the Padres may have the capability to seek not only the division championship but the World Series title this year. The team has aggressively recruited players and secured some of top players in the league over the past several years.

The Padres is ranked third among the 30 teams in power rankings, which were selected by MLB.com ahead of the opening of the new season on Tuesday. “The San Diego Padres have managed to retain shortstop Xander Jan Bogaerts who is one of the top free agents for this year and agreed to extend its deal with Manny Machado by 11 years,” MLB.com said. “Fernando Tatis Jr. will also join the team in several weeks, and slugger Juan Soto also belongs to the team.”

Kim Ha-sung, who served as a starting shortstop in the Padres last year, has handed over the position to Bogaerts and will play mostly as a second baseman in this season.


Heon-Jae Lee uni@donga.com