It’s already widely known that the Korea Baseball Organization’s Kiwoom Heroes will post infielder Hyeseong Kim for major league teams this offseason. An exact timetable, however, hadn’t come into focus until today. Kim himself tells Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency (X link) that he expects the posting to be formalized next week. He’s planning to travel to the United States early next week in advance of the process.
Kim, who’ll turn 26 in January, has long looked the part of an interesting entrant into the offseason free agent market. The former double-play partner of current big leaguer Ha-Seong Kim, he’s old enough and has enough experience in the KBO to be considered a “professional” under Major League Baseball’s international free agent parameters. That allows him to sign a major league deal of any length and for any amount (unlike, say, NPB star Roki Sasaki, who’ll be limited to a minor league deal with a bonus that falls within the guidelines of MLB’s hard-capped international amateur system).
The left-handed-hitting Kim has turned in four straight above-average seasons at the plate in the KBO, batting over .300 with an on-base percentage of at least .372 in each of those four seasons. He’s light on power but did connect on a career-high 11 home runs this past season, adding in 26 doubles and four triples. Hitting the ball over the fence has never been Kim’s calling card, however. He’s developed into a KBO star due to his outstanding bat-to-ball skills, plus speed and plus glovework. Over the past four seasons, he’s swiped 135 bases in 155 attempts (87.1% success rate) and lowered his strikeout rate each season, culminating in just a 10.9% strikeout rate in 2024.
Overall, Kim carries a .321/.381/.418 over the past four seasons, including a .326/.383/.458 batting line this past season. He’s regarded as a plus defensive second baseman who can handle shortstop and has ample experience at both positions. The Mariners have already been linked to Kim, and he ought to command a fair bit of interest from other teams once his free agency begins in earnest. The A’s, Royals, Pirates, Braves, Yankees and Brewers make varying levels of sense as speculative fits.
Once the Heroes formally post Kim, it will open a 45-day window during which he and his representatives at CAA Baseball can negotiate freely with all 30 major league teams. Any team that signs Kim will be paying not only the agreed-upon guarantee to the player himself, but a formal posting/release fee to the Heroes. That fee, which is in on top of the contract, is equal to 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, plus 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any dollars thereafter. Additional earnings, such as performance bonuses/incentives or salaries on option years fall under that purview once they are unlocked or exercised.
The royals trading for India likely takes them out of the running.
Seattle makes a ton of sense as do the yanks if they put him at leadoff.
the Jays make sense if they miss out on Soto, Bregman, Fried, Snell, Burnes, Adames and Santander
Seattle can’t afford to gamble on a guy who didn’t dominate the KBO. They can’t afford to give him a year or two to settle in and they can’t likely afford the AAV he’ll likely be asking.
Stevil: His numbers look pretty good, so I think a west coast team like Seattle might be mutually appealing. Looks like he’s pretty much established at 2B so he probably won’t need a year or two to settle in. Baseball is baseball no matter where it’s played. (Well, not here anymore since Manfred’s asanine changes).
I’m sorry, I disagree. It’s the KBO. Dae-ho Lee dominated the KBO and look how he turned out. Ha-Seong Kim showed excellent plate discipline before making the jump, but he still had a terrible first year, and wasn’t a great offensive player until 2023.
All things considered, that’s just not the kind of player Seattle is likely going to invest in.
He was top 25 in OPS in the KBO. That is good. He doesn’t have power, so maybe he could be an Arraez type high OBP hitter with speed and a good glove at 2B for the Angels.
So in other words a better, more rounded arraez? Seems possible.
@Stevil
What a joke of a comment about Dae Ho Lee. Servais gave him limited inconsistent playing time and he ended up hitting .253 with 14 hr in that season with a .740 ops. On some days he was given 1 ab or 2 ab, and a good example is the game against Texas on Jun 10, 2016 in which he crushed 2 home runs, the next day he was given 1 ab. What a joke.
Right, Servais is to blame. Never mind his struggles with breaking balls, lack of hard contact–and the 103 wRC+ should have had teams lined up for his services. Instead, he returned to the KBO after his single season in MLB.
What a joke of a rebuttal. You’re going on mute.
Idk that the argument really adds up there Stevil. While it is true that some npb and kbo imports don’t make a successful adjustment to mlb, this other player’s outcome isn’t predictive of Kim’s outcome. The deeper talent pool in mlb and differences in play style to kbo will undoubtedly factor into how teams value Kim this offseason, but plus defense and speed provide a safer floor than a bat first player. At the end of the day every player acquisition carries some degree of risk.
@FredMcGriff
I don’t mean this in a derogatory manner at all, but I am truly amazed how some baseball fans remember such seemingly minutae like what Scott Servais did one day in 2016. There are so many small details and trivia to remember in baseball so it amazes me when these sort of things stick in somebody’s craw. Like Dae Ho Lee crushing two homers and getting one at bat the next day. I consider myself a Mariners fanatic who has followed the team for 35 years but I honestly forgot who Dae Ho Lee was lol.
Dae-Ho Lee was a likeable character. But he also slashed .200/.284/.300 with a 63 wRC+ (with just 2 HRs) and a 28.4 K% from 7 July through the end of the season and he played a position where offense is a must..
It should surprise no one that he didn’t stick around.
He was below average hitting against righties and played mediocre defense at 1B. That’s not good.
@Stevil
He only played 40 games in the 2nd half, as I said limited playing time, and you’re expecting someone with limited playing time to hit what exactly. Players go through slumps when they play day in day out, so how hard do you think it is when you’re playing one game here one game there. League average in 2016 was .255, Lee hit .253 with inconsistent ab’s given to him.
You are asserting he’s playing a position where offense is a must-therefore don’t give players a game here and a game there-it does not work. Your critique of him is way out of order, and if you’d ever played the game at A, AA AAA, or any organised decent competition, you’d know this.
Last but not least, go and play a sport once a week and see how you go, see if you improve in a hand eye co-ordination sport. The other thing to say about Lee is that he hit .244 with 6 HR in 135ab’s v RH pitching and 8 hr in 173ab v LHP, so he played a whole let less against RH pitching and wasn’t given game time as I said, yet you’re expectations are the ceiling which is unrealistic. League average was .255 Lee hit .253. Only 4 guys on the team hit above .270 and one of them was Nori Aoki.
Talk about Adam Lind, this is what he hit 239 .286 .431 .717, yet you’re giving it to Lee who was in his first season. Lee made 2 errors in 622 innings at 1b.. Have a nice day.
@Jarred Kelenic’s Beer Can
2 errors in 622 innings. I’ll take that everyday of the week. Ok, he had limited mobility, he still did his job at 1st base. He was below average because the AB’s were given to Lind who did what? Hit .239 in 121 games.
@I s o b
I was merely pointing out one instance, Servais did not give him consistent time. For the games he did play he hit .253 for the whole season, league average was ..255 People are making out he was atrocious, which does not compare with the facts.
Lind hit .239 and played more games and it was his 11th year-not first, talk about that.
@Stevil
Go and cry in the corner you little child, I couldn’t give two f’s about your mute and your stupidity. By the way, I didn’t blame Servais, I just said he gave Lee inconsistent playing time, which is a fact, but being the typical immature child you are, you’ve asserted I am blaming Servais.. You won’t talk about Lind though, that is because you’re ignorant, and your views are myopic.
I’d say the Mariners need to gamble on someone. Otherwise, they are going to have too pay someone ‘established’ more for middling results.
Yeah, their IF has been pretty weak. It definitely makes sense to take the gamble if you aren’t going to spend on someone big like Adames or Bregman.
It’s a little surprising that some of you don’t seem to realize that Jerry’s Mariners have always preferred the trade route.
They’re almost certainly going to gamble on someone, somewhere, whether it’s a rebound candidate like Moncada or Madrigal (or both), or a top prospect via trade. Hopefully we’ll see a better option for a more established player via trade.
But with 10-12m on an unknown player with zero MLB experience? I wouldn’t bet on that.
JeDi does love to trade. He makes the offseason fun to follow.
it’s surprising you haven’t realized that route is his MO but he’s hitting about .350. Munoz, Castillo and Crawford have been good. Suarez potentially. but there was also the Adam Lind, David Phelps, and Zach Lee trades.
Note to self: Jerry Dipoto has made some trades that didn’t work out.
Tell me, which of the misses stopped him from making trades or will stop him from making trades?
This isn’t even about what I want Seattle to do, it’s about what we should expect.
Then who can Seattle afford??? Yoan moncada as starting 3rd baseman???
Yes, Moncada could even play second base. NIck Madrigal would be another. Then there’s the trade market.
It doesn’t make a lot of sense for Seattle to spend heavy on infielders with a limited budget and prospects that could potentially fill the ranks in a couple of years, and it especially doesn’t make sense to spend on unknowns.
What if Seattle would let go of some of their starting pitching? Rocchio from the Guards was a gold glove finalist at SS, they could easily move him to 2nd.
If Seattle trades starting pitching, which is unlikely, they’re not going to do so for a player whose value is strictly in his defense and move him to second..
@Stevil
I hear a lot of can’ts there. Maryland State lottery tag line used to be: “you got to play, to win”.
What’s will Jerry Dipota do? Ante up or fold?
That’s probably the right analogy, because the odds of Seattle hitting it big are slim to none.
I hope everyone reading this understands that I don’t hate Kim. I wish him nothing but success. I just don’t see him as a fit for Seattle for all the reasons above.
Stevil — normally I’m right there with you on your Mariner evaluations, but on this one, I’m hoping they sign both Kims. Comparing the 25-year-old singles hitter with a low strikeout rate to Dae Ho Lee doesn’t apply (he was already 34, a 3-outcome slugger who mostly struck out, and had severe limitations in the field). A go-go offense using speed, contact, and good defense has a shot of winning (if Julio becomes Julio once again, Cal remains Cal, and none of the outfielders regress). If they’re intent on signing a 40-year-old 1B, then all you’d need is Bliss or DMo to fill in until the older Kim gets healthy. I understand where you’re coming from, but I’m hoping for more than Yoan Moncada or yet another UTIL backup like Urias, Rojas, Haggerty, etc.
Or worse, if they truly believe that Austin Shenton is the answer.
I wasn’t comparing Kim to Lee, I was noting the difficulty for KBO players to make the transition to MLB. Lee dominated his league, then struggled. The same with Ha-Seong initially.
I would love to see them sign Bregman and trade for Donovan (if available). That isn’t likely happening, either. This isn’t about what I think they should or shouldn’t do. Again, it’s about what I think we should expect.
Is it not forgone the jays will miss out on these guys… same story every year
@money Is rather the Yanks move Jazz back to 2nd and find an unlisted bar for 3rd base. I’m not sure if either of the Oswald’s hit enough. to get below average ops from both Volpe or the Oswald’s might be too much to compensate.
Seems like there may be more options at 2b rn honestly. Can see a world where the yanks keep jazz at 3rd. He certainly has the arm for it and enough bat for the position
This is exactly the kind of guy the Mariners will sign for $6-8M a year and get pretty much nothing out of him!
Hope we sign both Kim’s just to see what kind of bad concession stand sandwich we get out of it this time
“the Jays make sense if they miss out on Soto, Bregman, Fried, Snell, Burnes, Adames and Santander”
Missing out on all of those guys would be such a Jays thing to do.
Jays should be rebuilding. If you really want to build a core of Vlad (you have to extend) and Soto, you can squint but otherwise I dont really see any other big signing attempt this off season. They wont get Soto because why would Soto go to Toronto over Yankees, Mets or Dodgers? Jays arent really in the position to add any long term expensive contracts since their team and farm is bad. I wont complain if they get another one of the big FA but doesnt really make sense for the team.
More glove first. Not all war is equal!
Watch the Padres sign him to replace Kim
While he’s not a SS (they just love to stockpile SS’s), he is a bat-to-ball guy like Luis Arriaz. Plenty of power in the Friar lineup… more ducks on the pond to drive in.
The conversion factor based on how Ha -Seong hit for the SDP doesn’t look promising for Hyeseong. Ha Seong hit .160 points lower in the MLB compared to his KBO OPS. Translate that to Hyseong and would translate into about a .600 OPS. Even if you use just his last year’s OPS that’s still only about .680.
A lot will depend on his D I guess….
.680 is below avg but maybe serviceable if he can play plus defense and steal some bags.
Isn’t that exactly the type of player Ha Seong Kim was with the exception of 2023? Serviceable hitting with plus defense and speed.
“A lot will depend on his D I guess” is maybe the comment of the year.
So… Because one Kim didn’t convert to MLB well, all KBO players will be similar? I see some flawed logic.
Rather, I think it’s not unusual to expect players from Korea and Japan to have a period (a season or two) of acclimating to the speed of MLB.
True but the getting on base is the most inoortant skill and he has that.
In that logic, Park Byung Ho should have been way better in MLB than Kang Jung Ho, because Park’s KBO statistics were overwhelming compared to Kang’s but Park failed miserably whereas Kang had a two great seasons before he wasted away his career with DUI and etc
His numbers are not that good?
thebirds: See above article.
avenger65: Miles Mikolas won the equivalent of the Cy Young award in the very league… I said what I said. He won’t do anything in the MLB. Bust. Hope your team signs him.
Padres have an opportunity to do something really funny
I thought the same thing
Watch them keep the same number so everybody can reuse the jersey
Sorry I only skimmed this but what is a contract projection for this guy? He presumably would be a good fit for my Brewers as a 2b (Turang to short) if it’s something like 5-6 mil per year in totality for four years or something like that. Is there a projection out there?
This sites top 50 free agents list has him at 3 years/$24m ($8m/year)
mlbtraderumors.com/2024/11/2024-25-top-50-mlb-free…
Good news Compadres… we barely need to tweak the Ha-Seong chant next year! Welcome to San Diego Hyeseong Kim
Would you put him at 2B with Cronenworth at 1B and Arraez at DH? If you don’t resign Profar would Cronenworth be worth trying in LF?
SS tryouts in ST! Bogey, Cronie, Arraez and (theoretically) Kim would be a very fine SS-2B-1B-DH combo. I’d be fine going with 4 years with a 5th CO, similar to Ha-Seong’s signing. Hyeseong will be proven to extend the lineup better than Ha-Seong, and he’ll get better at the plate each year of that 4yr plan.
Is it “Hi” or “Hee”?
Hay or He.
youtube.com/watch?v=NEYIRz43uYo&ab_channel=Ju…
Perfect player for the Yankees. 2B, lefty, great defense, plate discipline, contact hitting and speed. That means that they won’t sign him…
One Kim for another…
Sounds like college
He would be a good fit for the Angels. Low price. Good defense. High OBP.
They have signed everyone else so far. Why not this guy ?
Missed on Snell, but never thought that Arte would allow Minasian to sign any good starting pitcher.
KBO: AA/A+
JPN: AAA/AA
There are exceptions, I dont think this Kim is an exception.
I just hope whoever signs Hyesong Kim also signs Ha-Seong Kim.
HYE – SEONG – KIM, HYE – SEONG – KIM!
I can hear the chants now at Petco!
This guy makes so much sense for the Giants it’s a joke.
They need middle infield help and a leadoff hitter. Bingo! Forget the other Kim and his bum shoulder. Sign the healthy Kim, pair him with Lee and suddenly SFG is the defacto national team of Korea. Attendance goes up, the team starts winning and naked hot tub parties ensue.
Buster, get on this, pronto.
I can appreciate the theoreticals
Really does. Both Kims might make even more sense.
Naked hot tub parties when you win? Dang. I should have been a Giants fan instead of an Angels fan.
davemlaw — Jung Hoo Lee is the leadoff hitter. Giants need more offense and more pop as part of it which is why Willy Adames makes so much sense.
SFG would lose their 2nd and 5th round picks if they sign Adames. No thanks. Giants need table setters and base stealers!
Chapman, Fitz, Ramos and Goldschmidt will provide the power. And mid-season we might see Eldridge but I hope they wait until 2026.
Goldschmidt signed with the Giants? Did I miss that?
No you didn’t.
That guy has been a Giant killer for years and I think he’s still got a lot of good baseball left in him. Heck, he’s just 2 years removed from a MVP year.
Yankees and Mariners could use this guy. Both teams need a bat to ball skills guy and both could use infield help.
Cool – hopefully the Astros are in on this guy.
Seems like a below average bat. Would fit in well with the Yankees or Blue Jays.
after ohtani’s overwhelming success everyone in an asian baseball lg wants to cash in now. yamamoto signed the largest deal for a pitcher in history and barely played half a season of serviceable baseball. senga on the mets just missed an entire season with injury. seiya suzuki, Masataka Yoshida, ha seong kim, are a handful of others who have put up decent but unspectacular #s. tms need to be aware that these foreign players might have been all stars in their native leagues but it rarely translates to the majors. the most hyped is sasaki and im not convinced he’ll be the cy young degrom kershaw everyone expects him to be either. i hope they all find success, and its cool to have a diverse pool of players. its just disappointing to sign these guys to big deals, then have them underperform.
Hyeseong Kim should go to Seattle. It would be a great 2B upgrade over Polanco, and it would be a wise move for Dipoto to make in free agency. Kim is a great contact hitter and would factor into a better Mariners offense in 2025.
I think it’s Seattle or Angels but don’t be to quick to say it’s an upgrade over polanco. This guy is a potential bust
Big whiffa
Terrific contact hitter and average hitter with great speed and defensive abilities.
For Seattle, what’s not to like about this? Kim would slot in perfectly at the keystone for them.
Lots of guys perform well in AA and 3A and even have some MLB success but it’s hard to stick long term. He has to prove it over here before you can pencil him in