Free-agent infielder Ha-Seong Kim has received “several” offers of at least five years, according to Daniel Kim of ESPN. Major league teams have until Jan. 1 to sign him.
Although he hasn’t played a game in the majors, the 25-year-old Kim entered the offseason as one of the most coveted free agents available. Kim starred in the Korea Baseball Organization from 2014-20, during which he slashed .294/.373/.493 with 133 home runs and 134 stolen bases in 3,664 plate appearances. KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes then posted Kim for MLB teams, and MLBTR predicted he would sign a five-year, $40MM deal in free agency.
So far, the Blue Jays and Rangers are teams with known interest in Kim. He joins Didi Gregorius, Marcus Semien and Andrelton Simmons as prominent free-agent shortstops. Although they’re more proven than Kim, he might out-earn all of them if multiple five-year proposals are on the table.
should be interesting to see where he lands. ive got no real clue.
It won’t be interesting.
Translation: my team has no chance of signing him so ill act like its not a big deal.
damn.. he just wrecked your shop
I have my fingers crossed that the Cubs are one of the five teams in on Kim (I’m shocked there are not more). Even if his number regress, he would still should be a plus, plus second baseman.
I’m shocked, SHOCKED! that Toronto is reported to be interested.
ha!
The blue stove of this off-season stays hot
It could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Or a new whipping boy for fans. Haven’t really had one in a while
But we’ll always have Paris……
What about the flow?
C’mon JD and CY, bring this guy to Texas and let’s wrap up a decent offseason. I realize the Jays can offer a chance to win in the next year but I am hoping we can get him because of more obvious playing time. Would love to see him at 3B for the Rangers in 2021.
Id love to see him as a Ranger. 5/50 would net him I bet.
I think he is going to be around the 35-40 million mark to be honest. He has his age and his ability to play multiple positions going for him but I doubt that power will carry over to the MLB. He may be in the 15-20 range but with plus speed. Sounds more like a second baseman vs. a short stop in todays game unless he can flash some serious leather.
My concern is with the power… which again, I don’t think will play… if he is selling out for power and it doesn’t translate his OBP could nose dive from .370 to the .320 range.
Texas necesitaria cambiar a Andrus y al otro guy por pitchers.
I’m first? You all must be cheating and opening presents early. Or eggnog? Tigers could sign this guy and I’d be fibe with that.
he’s also younger, has less legal issues, and relys less on power (notable given the KBO’s past extremely juiced ball)
whoops, meant to put that response on the next comment
That happened to me before, too. I tried to post on the Pirates/Nats trade but it went to the Orioles coaching hire for some reason. I should have double-checked before I hit reply.
Fairly minimal difference power/obp-wise (in KBO Kang .383 obp Kim .393; Kang .504 slg Kim .493 slg.) But there is a difference so you are right. Also about age.
Major legal issues I don’t think Kang had initially coming over so not really relevant (I’m was comparing them coming over.)
I actually liked Kang a lot his first couple of years; as someone pointed out he was a pretty good regular when he was here, sort of a steal at his contract. So yeah considering age and that Kang was a great value on his deal yeah I could see another year or so at a bit more money.
Is this guy really that impressive… numbers similar to Kang. Who was pretty good, but not a major difference maker.
Jung-Ho Kang had an ops+ of 123 and 128 in 2015/2016. That’s a solid above average player. It was his off field issue that screwed him over
Is Kang the guy that got several DUI’s? I don’t know too much about him.
He’s probably getting a 5/30 deal. No one has ever called either of them a “major difference maker” they both have ceilings of solid regulars, which Kang was, until his 10 cent brain got in the way.
No he’s not.
If teams are locking guys up five year deals who aren’t “major difference makers” they generally aren’t doing a good job managing their roster. Non-major difference makers can be had on much lower risk 1-2 yr deals.
^fine
Let’s go Tigers!
Tigers Al Avila has reached out to Peter Kozma.
Haha forget that.. he’s going door to door asking for a Brandon Inge or Donnie Kelly. “Well, Ramon Santiago is already on payroll.. hmm”
Matt Joyce is still around
Jordy Mercer is still available…
The Tigers and Rangers could very well have a shot. Look, you’ve got the best fielding SS of his generation (Simmons) (and maybe a few other generations); an IMHO underrated over all player in Gregorious, and a pretty decent player in Semien. Next year, you have the Attack of the Killer Shortstops.
The over all uncertainty and the availability of other SS (this year and next) severely shrinks Kim’s market. It might take a little extra money, but the Rangers have money. And the Tigers have LOTS of money.
.
Never, ever happening. Contenders need him, he will go to a better team than the rebuilding Rangers and Tigers, who are both going to stink for the next 2 years at least.
I think he’s more likely to go to a rebuilding club for a few reasons. He’s young and even if you sign him for 5+ it’s theoretically his prime the whole contract. So a team that’s a few years away might be thinking about getting him for the future. This FA class seems older and he’s one of the few younger players.
I also don’t know if you can trust him immediately performing while making the jump from the KBO. It might take him a year or so to get acclimated and a contender might not want to risk that, but it wouldn’t really matter for a rebuilding team because they can be patient.
I think there’s pretty good upside here. Rebuilding teams and contenders should both be interested.
I think a rebuilding club strictly because of playing time. It is logical to me that a guy coming from the KBO would find the transition harder if he isn’t seeing 450 atbats. If you look at what Choo and Kang both did, they didn’t jump on large market contenders either. I suspect the main players are SF, Detroit, Texas, Toronto and St. Louis? Just a guess.
Contenders will much rather sign a proven commodity like Simmons or Semien to a short term deal (preferably 1 year) than take a chance that Kim’s game transfers to MLB right out of the gate. If Simmons or Semien don’t do what they’d hope, the contenders will have great options to sign next year. The worst case scenario is that a contender signs Kim to a 5 year deal but it takes him close to a full year to hit his stride, costing them playoff positioning or maybe even a playoff berth altogether. Theretofore, Kim fits much better with a rebuilding club right now.
The Tigers have never made a big splash in the Asian player market. Only two i can think of ever playing for the Tigers is Hideo Nomo in the middle of his career and Fu-Te Ni. They have money but the question is does Kim want to play there?
“Although they’re more proven than Kim, he might out-earn all of them if multiple five-year proposals are on the table.”
This is not happening, cmon you’ve been doing this long enough to know international players like Kim get long year/low money deals. I’m betting Kim has 5/30 deal on the table, Semien will at least double that. Jon Singleton got a 5/10 deal. Long years absolutely does not equal big money.
You may be right but i honestly would not be surprised to see Kim getting more money than we’ve seen in recent years. Quite a bit of competition for him from low market teams to big market teams, very young, and most seem to think his offense will translate fairly well in the MLB, not to mention his baserunning skills and defense, all this for what most likely will be a 2B. Not a lot of solid offensive 2nd basemen out there so i see Kim possibly reaching that 40-50M total contract value.
Hey. I have said that the Rangers could compete by 2022′, but if we pick up a pitcher like Paxton or Sugano and a hitter like Kim… then we *might* be a sneaky team next season. I doubt that as much as the next guy, but with the amount of protection in that lineup, it’s hard to deny that we have a 5%-10% chance at playoffs next season…
Let’s hope CY and JD can make a good bid and put themselves the clear favorite for Kim because I love that guy.
You have a zero percent chance.
Let’s not play this game again. Rangers were thought to be a sleeper team in 2020 and all they did was fall asleep. They aren’t going anywhere in 2021 unless you sign Bauer, Springer and deal Gallo.
The problem is now the rotation, it’s pretty bad minus Lynn. But I do think the lineup will be better with Dahl and a healthy year from Willie protecting Gallo. If we could add Kim I would be a happy guy. I still think 2022 is going to be the year when we will start turning things around for real.
Go get him, Blue Jays!!
Seattle!
I wonder if Kansas Titty will be in on Kim?
If he can play all of 2nd, SS and 3b I’d love for the twins to pick him up as a utility. Not sure if they’d be willing to go that many years on a mostly unknown with their current infield being locked up for many years and some good ones in the pipeline. Interesting though for sure
Utility fielders don’t get five year contracts. Starting infielders do.
The fact that Hyun-Jin Ryu met with Kim recently, makes me think that the Blue Jays may already have the upper hand, if the offers are similar in dollars and length. I hope I’m wrong, because I’d like to see him sign with the Rangers.
I truly don’t know where this guy is signing with but I am guessing the Pirates
If the Jays acquired him he’d be hitting 7th or 8th in the order (to start) which shows the depth of that lineup. If he shows he can perform he’ll rise in that lineup making it even more dangerous. He’d also solve the infield hole and he is young. It all fits the Jays needs.
As nice as this possibility is, Jays still need some pitching.
Jan 1 or Jan 7th? I thought there was a delay and the 30 day window started the 7th?
I would bet Kim would want to go somewhere that he knew he would start. Stars dont leave a place where they are a hero to sit the bench or play in the minors. He would probably want to join a team with other players from his homeland.
Toronto would probably be my guess. He would probably start at third and he couldn’t have a lot of pressure on him as there are great hitters in that lineup to help. They have Ryu who can take him under his wing.
Jays are the perfect fit for this guy. The Jays have already struck the Asian baseball markets last year with Ryu and Yamaguchi. Ryu already met with this guy once so that is a good sign. Not to mention the fact that he fits the mold of young core, versatility, and potentially cheap and controllable years
Mets should get him.
Kim will be a Jay alongside JTR. Kim for $35 million over 5 years (fully guaranteed) will get it done. As a Jays fan, I would hate this signing for what it’s worth. WAY too much uncertainty for my liking for that type of term.