The Oakland Athletics released shortstop Nick Punto on Friday and will take a $2.75 million hit to the payroll for 2015. Does this mean they're putting in a significant bid for Korean shortstop Jung-ho Kang?
Punto's departure from Oakland was bound to occur especially after the team acquired Marcus Semien from the Chicago White Sox in the Jeff Samardzija trade. The 37-year-old Punto batted just .207/.296/.293 in 73 games with the Athletics in 2014, and with Eric Sogard at second base the team is in dire need of an upgrade in the middle infield.
With Punto now gone, it opens up a number of possibilities in the infield for the A's. They have Semien, who looks like he'll compete for the job at shortstop, but he also has the ability to play second and third. Oakland also acquired Brett Lawrie from the Toronto Blue Jays in the Josh Donaldson trade and they have him at third base for now, but he can also play second. So with all this flexibility, are the Athletics going to make a run at Korean shortstop Jung-ho Kang?
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports previously noted the Athletics were one of the teams to "check in" on Kang, but they publicly downplayed their interest. For those looking to acquire the shortstop, the bids were due at 5 p.m. ET on Friday and his Korean club, the Nexen Heroes, will be notified of the highest one on Monday. The Athletics could have very well been one of those teams because the maximum price for Kang is believed to be $39 million, with bids ranging from $5 million to $15 million and his contract expected to be around three years and $24 million.
Although Kang is said to be a shortstop, it's unknown how his skill set will translate to the MLB and many scouts believe he'll actually be more of a second baseman or even a third baseman. If that's the case, the A's can use another bat such as his in the lineup (.356/.459/.739 with 40 home runs and 117 RBIs in 117 games) and they can pretty much move him wherever they feel he's best in the infield since Semien and Lawrie can be shifted around.
Let's not forget the A's paid a similar price for Yoenis Cespedes back in 2012 when they inked the Cuban defector to a four-year, $36 million deal. Oakland is fairly active on the international free agent market so it wouldn't be surprising if they used some of their money for a power-hitting infielder.
The St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, New York Mets and Minnesota Twins were also said to be interested, and it was noted today the Mets did not place a bid for Kang so that likely limits the competition for Oakland.
