The San Diego Padres after going on a spending spree over the past few offseasons, made a conscious decision to cut costs approaching the 2024 season. To that end, they traded away Juan Soto, who is in the final year of team control, and they also decided not to re-sign star closer Josh Hader, who moved to the Houston Astros after coming to terms to a five-year, $95 million contract.
It will take a team effort for the Padres to replace the production of the players they traded away or let go in free agency. In the case of Hader, they signed veteran reliever Woo-Suk Go, bringing him from the KBO League via a two-year, $4.5 million contract.
Losing Josh Hader will be a major blow to the Padres' bullpen; the presence of the All-Star closer ensured that the team, more often than not, would have the game won if they led in the ninth inning. At the moment, it's not quite clear who'll be assuming closing duties for them, although Yuki Matsui appears to be in line to do so. But for Go, he believes that his versatility should allow him to fill whatever bullpen role the Padres will be needing him to fill.
“I don’t want to think of those roles. I’m just a pitcher. Just go out there and do my job whenever Mike Shildt tells me to go out there. As a professional, my job is to just go out there and get those outs,” Go said, per Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune.
In this day and age, relief pitchers are no longer confined to fix roles. Woo-Suk Go's ability to fill a plethora of roles should be very helpful for the Padres' bid to remain competitive in 2024.
Go, who is only 25 years old, struck out two in his Spring Training debut for the Padres, showing the mettle that allowed him to secure the final three outs of the Korea Series back in November. He posted a 3.68 ERA last season in the KBO, but it's his strong strikeout rate that bodes well for his chances of translating his level of production into the big leagues.
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