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Hyeseong Kim

Latest On Dodgers’ Outfield Alignment

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The Dodgers started Hyeseong Kim in center field tonight against San Diego right-hander Stephen Kolek. Kim was flanked in the corners by Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernández, leaving Michael Conforto out of the lineup. Manager Dave Roberts said pregame that he’s unsure whether the lefty-hitting Conforto will get a start against rookie righty Ryan Bergert in tomorrow’s series finale (relayed by Sonja Chen of MLB.com).

Roberts didn’t frame it as a benching, saying he envisions Conforto “playing a lot still.” At the same time, the veteran skipper acknowledged that Kim has earned the opportunity for regular playing time. Kim is a natural middle infielder, but the Dodgers have Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman playing at those spots. That leaves center field as the clearest position for Kim to get consistent at-bats.

Signed to a three-year offseason deal out of Korea, the 26-year-old Kim began his Dodger tenure on optional assignment. Los Angeles called him up in early May. Kim was expected to work as a multi-positional player off the bench. He has thrived in his first look at MLB pitching, running a .382/.425/.544 batting line through his first 30 big league contests. He’s obviously not going to continue hitting that well, but he’s putting the ball in play at an above-average rate and has gone 6-6 on stolen base attempts.

Pages is playing at an All-Star level, while Hernández remains a middle-of-the-order bat. Getting Kim regular outfield work will come at the expense of Conforto, who is hitting .168/.305/.277 in his first season as a Dodger. He has hit below the Mendoza line in each month. Kim’s ability to play up the middle also allows the Dodgers to use Pages in left field. He’d otherwise need to play center when Conforto is in left.

It’s clearly not what the Dodgers envisioned when they signed Conforto to a surprising $17MM free agent deal. It was a fairly sizable bet on his strong finish to the 2024 campaign while with the Giants. He’d been up-and-down through the season’s first couple months before posting an OPS above .840 in both August and September. An injury to any of L.A.’s outfielders or a slump from Kim could reopen everyday work for Conforto, but he may lose some playing time in the short term as they ride the hot hand.

Roberts: Andy Pages To Continue Seeing Regular Playing Time

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The Dodgers activated veteran outfielder Teoscar Hernandez from the injured list yesterday and optioned James Outman to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Hernandez’s return won’t cut into the playing time of hot-hitting 24-year-old Andy Pages, it seems. Manager Dave Roberts told the Dodgers beat last night that Pages is “an everyday player” who’ll see only occasional off-days (including last night).

It would indeed be hard to cut into Pages’ playing time based on his performance of late. The former top prospect posted a league-average .248/.305/.407 slash (100 wRC+) as a rookie but has raked at a .280/.333/.494 clip with nine home runs in just 177 plate appearances in 2025. He and Hernandez have been far and away the team’s two most productive outfielders this year.

There are some reasons to take Pages’ breakout with a grain of salt. He hasn’t made substantial changes to an approach at the plate that still seems like it could use work. Pages fanned in 24.4% of his plate appearances as a rookie and walked at just a 6.5% clip. Both marks were worse than league average. In 2025, he’s slightly pared back the strikeouts (23.2%) but has seen his walk rate dip as well (5.6%). The league-average strikeout rate is 22%;  for walks, it’s 8.7%.

Pages is making more contact on pitches within the strike zone, jumping from a slightly below-average 84.8% last year to a healthier 88.2% in 2025. (League-average hovers between 85% and 85.5%.) However, he’s also chasing off the plate more frequently this season and swinging more often in general. Of the 165 qualified hitters in Major League Baseball, only 15 have swung more often than Pages, who’s offered at just under 54% of the pitches he sees. Hitters can certainly succeed with an aggressive approach — Pete Crow-Armstrong swings more often than any hitter in the National League — but Pages has well below-average quality of contact.

None of this is to say Pages can’t or won’t be a solid hitter — but continuing on at a pace that’s about 30% better than average seems unlikely without some refinement to his approach or an uptick in hard contact. Even if he’s “only” around 10% better than average at the plate for the rest of the season, he’s a clear everyday player, given his glovework in center field and his plus speed.

With Pages locked into regular or near-regular reps in center field and Hernandez back to his post in right field, the Dodgers will look to a combination of Michael Conforto and Tommy Edman in left field. Edman figures to be out there on days that Hyeseong Kim gets the nod at second base, although Kim has also played some center field and pushed Pages to left field. Broadly speaking, left field will be handled in more piecemeal fashion.

The 32-year-old Conforto, signed to a one-year deal worth $17MM this offseason, has struggled immensely thus far but still seems like he’ll get the lion’s share of playing time for now. Both that contract and some positive traits that run counter to his bleak .168/.304/.273 slash through 171 plate appearances should net him a bit more leash. Conforto is walking at a huge 13.5% clip, and he’s averaging 91 mph off the bat while putting 47% of his batted balls in play at 95 mph or greater. He’s not expanding the zone all that often, and his contact rate within the zone is nearly 86%.

At some point, the results will need to be there for him to continue getting chances, but it’s understandable right now if the Dodgers are convinced better days are ahead. Conforto mashed at a .273/.329/.529 pace in a near identical playing time sample of 173 plate appearances following the 2024 trade deadline, which helped him secure that contract in the first place.

Dodgers Recall Hyeseong Kim

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3:00pm: The Dodgers have now made it official. Kim has been recalled with Edman placed on the 10-day IL, retroactive to April 30, due to right ankle inflammation.

11:25am: The Dodgers are recalling infielder Hyeseong Kim, reports Dodgers Daily. Kim will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. He is already on the 40-man roster but a corresponding move will be needed to get him onto the active roster.

Kim, 26, was a notable free agent this winter. He had hit .304/.364/.403 over eight season in the KBO while bouncing around to multiple positions, mostly the middle infield. There wasn’t a ton of power there, but he seemed like an intriguing contact-based utility guy.

The Dodgers somewhat surprisingly won the bidding with a three-year, $12.5MM deal. At the time of the signing, they already had a middle infield group consisting of Mookie Betts, Gavin Lux, Tommy Edman and Miguel Rojas, which made it a somewhat curious fit. However, Lux was quickly traded to the Reds, which widened Kim’s path to playing time.

But Kim was optioned to the minors on March 11th, a few days before the Dodgers were travelling to Japan for the Tokyo Series. The middle infield playing time has largely gone to Betts and Edman, with Rojas and Enrique Hernández chipping in occasionally.

Kim has been getting regular playing time at Triple-A, having stepped to the plate 131 times over 28 games. His 7.6% walk rate and 24.4% strikeout rate are both a bit worse than par but he has five home runs, leading to a .252/.328/.470 line and 105 wRC+. He has also stolen 13 bases without getting caught while splitting his time between second base, shortstop and center field.

His promotion might not be entirely about his own Triple-A performance. Edman has missed the club’s last two games due to right ankle discomfort. He has not yet been placed on the injured list but perhaps Kim’s promotion indicates that the Dodgers will make that move today. Edman hasn’t played since Tuesday, so an IL stint could be backdated by three days, the maximum allowed. That means he could return in a week if he heals up in that time.

If that’s the case, the Dodgers would have Kim, Rojas and Hernandez as options to cover the second base spot. It’s unclear how the playing time would be distributed in that scenario but Kim should have a chance to make his major league debut at some point this week.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Dodgers Option Hyeseong Kim

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The Dodgers optioned infielder Hyeseong Kim and right-hander Bobby Miller this evening. They also reassigned non-roster invitees Giovanny Gallegos, Eddie Rosario, David Bote, Michael Chavis and top prospect Dalton Rushing to minor league camp.

Additionally, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that Dustin May will open the season as the fifth starter as Tony Gonsolin is ticketed for an injured list stint. Manager Dave Roberts told Dodgers Territory yesterday that was likely to be the case, as Gonsolin recently tweaked his back while lifting weights.

Kim entered camp as the favorite for the second base job. The Dodgers signed the lefty-hitting infielder to a three-year deal that guaranteed $12.5MM. While that’s a relatively modest investment, L.A. traded Gavin Lux to Cincinnati a few days later. That seemingly opened the path for Kim to step in at the keystone, but the Dodgers evidently have some concerns about how his bat will translate to open the season.

Offensive impact has been the question dating back to Kim’s time in Korea. Evaluators credit him as a good baserunner and plus defender. He hit .304 over eight KBO seasons but was never much of a power threat. Last season’s 11 home runs represented a career high. The 26-year-old infielder struck out 10 times in 31 plate appearances during his first MLB camp. He hit .222 with one homer in 14 spring games.

Starting Kim in the minors provides Roberts some flexibility at second base. The Dodgers could turn to any of Miguel Rojas, Enrique Hernández or Chris Taylor — all of whom would otherwise play utility roles. Alternatively, they could bring Tommy Edman back in from center field to play second. That’d open center field for Andy Pages or James Outman, but neither of them have had especially impressive Spring Trainings.

The Gonsolin injury resolves L.A.’s biggest camp battle: the fifth starter competition between him and May. Both pitchers missed all of last season rehabbing surgeries. Gonsolin underwent a 2023 Tommy John procedure. May required a flexor repair in ’23 and needed to undergo emergency esophageal surgery last summer after suffering a life-threatening throat tear while eating. His season debut will be his first major league appearance in nearly two years.

May rounds out what will be a five-man rotation for the time being. Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and Blake Snell will hold the top four rotation spots. Yamamoto and Sasaki are respectively tabbed for Games 1 and 2 during next week’s Tokyo Series matchup against the Cubs.

Dodgers Notes: Kim, Ohtani, Miller

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Hyeseong Kim figures to have a clear path to a role as the Dodgers’ regular second baseman after the club traded Gavin Lux to the Reds earlier this winter. Even so, L.A. is keeping their options open with the longtime KBO infielder. According to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, the Dodgers are planning to try Kim in center field this spring.

Kim, 26, has played second base for the vast majority of his career but also has significant experience at shortstop alongside fairly brief cameos in the outfield corners and at third base. Kim is already being utilized at both middle infield positions, but now the club appears poised to give Kim opportunities in center as well in the hope that he can provide them with a left-handed option at the position. Switch-hitter Tommy Edman figures to be the club’s starting option at the position this year, but he’s been a far better hitter against left-handed pitching throughout his career to this point. Other alternatives to Edman like Enrique Hernandez, Chris Taylor, and Andy Pages are all right-handed, while lefty center fielder James Outman appears to have fallen several places down the club’s depth chart at this point.

That creates an opportunity for Kim, who is coming off a .326/.383/.458 season for the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes. If Kim struggles offensively in his first taste of big league action as his countryman Ha-Seong Kim did during his debut 2021 campaign with the Padres, it’s at least theoretically possible that the Dodgers could eventually opt to utilize veteran infielder Miguel Rojas or even Edman as their regular second baseman, relegating Kim to more of a utility role. If that were to come to pass, Kim having the versatility to handle center field against right-handed pitching would be a major asset for the Dodgers given their heavily right-handed bench and center field options.

Elsewhere on the roster, two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani continues to work towards his return to the mound after missing the 2024 season due to elbow surgery. Plunkett notes that manager David Roberts relayed to reporters that Ohtani touched 95 mph on his heater during today’s bullpen session. That’s a noteworthy development after he oscillated between 92 and 94 mph during last week’s session. Roberts also added that Ohtani incorporated his cutter into the bullpen session today, a change which he described as a “big step.” 

The star’s projected timeline for a return to the mound has not changed, as he’s expected to first begin pitching in games sometime in May. Even so, it’s surely encouraging for Dodgers fans that their superstar remains on the right track and is making good progress as he navigates a tricky rehab process that will require him to balance rehabbing his arm as a pitcher and preparing for the regular season as a hitter.

Plunkett also relayed an update on right-hander Bobby Miller, who was struck in the head with a 106mph comebacker during the first Spring Training game between the Dodgers and Cubs on Thursday. Miller appears to have suffered mild symptoms as a result of the incident, previously telling reporters he was only dealing with “headaches and drowsiness.” Even so, Miller won’t be back in games for the Dodgers for a while yet. He relayed to Plunkett that he’s “got to pass some steps” before being cleared to resume baseball activities, and the first box that needs to be checked is for Miller to be completely symptom-free before he resumes workouts and eventually returns to games. Miller is in the mix for the fifth starter job to open the season, but both Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May appeared to be more likely candidates for the job entering Spring Training.

MLBTR Podcast: Brent Rooker’s Extension, Gavin Lux, And Catching Up On The Holiday Transactions

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Dodgers Sign Hyeseong Kim

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With hours left to go before his posting window closes, Hyeseong Kim and the Dodgers signed a three-year contract worth $12.5MM. The deal includes a two-year club option (which would need to be exercised together) covering the 2028-29 seasons. If the Dodgers exercise the option, they’d pay an additional $9.5MM over those two years. Los Angeles designated catcher Diego Cartaya for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot. Kim is represented by CAA Sports.

Kim’s former team, the Kiwoom Heroes, officially posted him on December 5, giving him until 4:00 PM CT this afternoon to sign with an MLB club. As the days ticked by and the rumor mill remained relatively quiet, it seemed like a legitimate possibility that Kim would return for one more season with the Heroes. Instead, the Dodgers, who hadn’t been closely linked to Kim this winter, swooped in and made a winning offer in the nick of time. In addition to Kim’s salary, the Dodgers will have to pay a $2.5MM release fee to the Heroes (20% of the guaranteed $12.5MM on his deal). Their total investment is $15MM.

Kim, soon to be 26, is a four-time consecutive winner of the KBO Golden Glove Award, given annually to the best overall player at each position. He won the award at shortstop in 2021 before moving to second base and winning each year from 2022-24. In addition to playing a strong second base and at least a capable shortstop, Kim is also an asset on the basepaths. He led the KBO in stolen bases in 2021 and has swiped at least 20 bags in all seven full seasons of his career. His glove and legs should give him a relatively high floor as a utility player in MLB, if nothing more.

The big question is how Kim’s bat will hold up against MLB pitching. While he struggled at the plate early in his career, the lefty batter blossomed into a well-above-average hitter during his last three years in the KBO. From 2022-24, he produced a .326 batting average and a .384 OBP, while his wRC+ was never below 118 in any season. However, Kim has never hit for much power, even by the slightly lower power standards of the KBO. His 2024 season was the best of his career power-wise – he reached double-digit home runs for the first time – but his .132 isolated power was still below league average.  Thus, it’s fair to worry that Kim might not have the necessary power to be an everyday player in MLB. Just look at his former KBO teammate Ha-Seong Kim. Ha-Seong Kim was a genuine power threat in the KBO, socking 30 homers in 138 games during his final season in Korea. Since coming to MLB, he has become known as a soft-hitting contact specialist. His career .137 ISO in MLB is 15% worse than the league average over the last four years.

When MLBTR ranked Hyseong Kim at no. 26 on our Top 50 Free Agents list, we predicted he’d sign a three-year, $24MM contract. His actual deal guarantees him a little more than half of that predicted salary. That said, it’s worth mentioning that Kim reportedly turned down more money from at least one other team. A representative from Kim’s agency, CAA Baseball, told a Korean media outlet (passed along by Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News) that the Angels offered him a five-year, $28MM deal, while the Mariners, Cubs, and Padres also made offers with undisclosed terms. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register contradicts that report. According to Fletcher, the Angels made an offer to Kim but did not top what he received from the Dodgers.

To that point, Kim might not have a guaranteed starting role in L.A. The Dodgers already have Gavin Lux to play second base, Mookie Betts at shortstop, and Max Muncy holding down the hot corner. Furthermore, they have the talented defensive shortstop Miguel Rojas and the versatile Chris Taylor on the bench. Center fielder Tommy Edman can also play all around the infield.

According to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, Kim will play a “super-utility role” in 2025. The use of the prefix “super” seems to imply that he’ll be playing several positions. While he has significant experience at both shortstop and second base, he has only played a handful of games at third base in his professional career. He also played 44 games in left field during the 2020 season, and it will be interesting to see if the Dodgers consider using him in the outfield at all. As a “super-utility” player, Kim will presumably have a bigger role than that of a typical bench bat, but with so much competition on the Dodgers’ talent-filled roster, he’ll have to earn his playing time.

The fact that the Dodgers signed Kim despite already having so many infielders is evidence of how much this team values depth and flexibility. It’s also a sign of how much they value what Kim can bring to the table. Funnily enough, manager Dave Roberts has already made his team’s affinity for Kim quite clear. After the Dodgers played an exhibition match against the Korean national team last March, Roberts told reporters (including Yoo), “Our scouts like the second baseman: just the way his body moves.” That second baseman, of course, was Kim.

Various reports out of South Korea were first with the news that Kim was signing with Los Angeles on a three-year deal with a two-year club option. Jon Heyman of the New York Post was first to report the $12.5MM guarantee and the $22MM maximum value.

Dodgers Still Planning To Use Betts-Lux Middle Infield

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The Dodgers added to their middle infield with the signing of KBO second Hyeseong Kim to a three-year contract. That fueled speculation about Los Angeles dealing one of their other infielders.

General manager Brandon Gomes downplayed the notion that adding Kim will spur another trade. “I think it’s more that we’re adding a really talented player, and [then we’ll] see where things play out,” Gomes told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times). “It’s helpful to have really strong pieces at a lot of different areas. So that’s how we’re viewing it right now.” He added that the team’s “mindset” remains a middle infield pairing of Mookie Betts at shortstop and Gavin Lux at second base.

Before Gomes’ media session, Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic reported that the Dodgers view Kim as a utility player. Los Angeles values defensive flexibility as much as any team. The 25-year-old Kim has primarily been a second baseman but has experience in left field and at both positions on the left side of the infield. L.A. already has Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor as veteran utility options. Tommy Edman can also play either middle infield spot but is expected to be the everyday center fielder between Michael Conforto and Teoscar Hernández. Assuming a four-man bench, Kim and backup catcher Austin Barnes would round out the position player group. That’d push outfielders Andy Pages and James Outman, each of whom has a minor league option left, to Triple-A if everyone’s healthy.

Rojas underwent postseason hernia surgery, but there’s no indication that’ll keep him from participating in Spring Training. Taylor is coming off a .202/.298/.300 showing. The organization clearly places a lot of emphasis on his versatility and clubhouse presence. L.A. designated former top prospect Diego Cartaya for assignment as the corresponding move for Kim. That suggests the Dodgers see a path to carrying all of Kim, Rojas and Taylor on the roster.

There could be an element of gamesmanship to Gomes’ comments. It wouldn’t do the team much good to proclaim they’re trying to deal a middle infielder even if they were. That said, it’s not surprising that the Dodgers don’t feel Lux’s situation changes much after the Kim signing. The latter’s three-year, $12.5MM guarantee is a modest investment that suggests MLB teams generally viewed him as a utility player rather than a regular.

Lux hit .251/.320/.383 with 10 homers while playing slightly below-average defense in more than 1000 innings at second base last year. He had a fantastic second half, hitting .304 with seven homers in 61 games after the All-Star Break. He has been a league average hitter over nearly 1500 MLB plate appearances. Evaluators question how much Kim will bring to the table offensively. It’d be risky for the Dodgers to deal Lux and expect Kim to handle the keystone.

The Dodgers also don’t have glaring weaknesses that they need to address via trade. There’s little reason to deal Lux for prospects. The Dodgers could open the season with a rotation including Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They’re expected to bring Clayton Kershaw back. They might sign Roki Sasaki. Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May are returning from injury. The bullpen is the relative weak point, but Ardaya writes in a separate column at The Athletic that the team prefers to address that through free agency rather than trade.

KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes Post Hyeseong Kim

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10:41pm: The Heroes announced that the posting window will open at 8:00 am Eastern on Thursday. MLB is evidently waiting until tomorrow to formally notify teams about his availability. Kim will have until 5:00 pm Eastern on January 3 to sign (X link via Yoo).

9:17pm: The KBO announced that the Heroes have officially made Kim available via the posting system. The posting went into effect at noon on Wednesday in South Korean time, not at 12:00 pm Eastern as previously reported. According to Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News (X link), the 30-day signing period will officially begin at 8:00 a.m. Eastern the morning after MLB informs teams of Kim’s posting.

2:30pm: Infielder Hyeseong Kim is expected to be officially posted by the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization on Wednesday at noon Eastern/11am Central, per Jon Morosi of MLB Network (X link). Once it’s official, that will start a 30-day window where all MLB clubs can negotiate with Kim and his representatives. If no deal is signed in that time, he will return to the Heroes for the 2025 season. (The NPB posting window has been expanded from 30 days to 45 days but KBO players still have a 30-day time frame.)

Kim, 26 in January, said himself last week that he believed the formal posting process was about a week away. It appears that timeline is holding, so Kim will be officially be available to MLB clubs as of tomorrow. Kim will be considered a “professional” under MLB rules because he is at least 25 years old and has at least six years of experience in a foreign league. As such, he can sign a deal of any length or dollar amount, depending on what MLB clubs are willing to offer. That’s in contrast to someone like Roki Sasaki, who is only 23 years old and will therefore be capped by the international bonus system.

It isn’t likely that Kim will secure a massive deal, but he could still have some interest. He is expected to provide a somewhat similar skillset to his former double play partner Ha-Seong Kim, no relation, as both players are considered sure-handed defenders at multiple spots on the diamond. Hyeseong has mostly played the two middle infield spots, but also with brief stints at third base and in the outfield corners.

Offensively, Hyeseong is a tick below Ha-Seong, however. Hyeseong has slashed .304/.364/.403 in his eight KBO seasons whereas Ha-Seong hit .294/.373/.493 in his seven campaigns in Korea. The batting average and on-base numbers are fairly close but Ha-Seong clearly has the edge in terms of slugging. Hyeseong got to 11 home runs in 2024, a career high for him, whereas Ha-Seong had 19 or more homers in his final six KBO seasons, including 30 in the final year.

Still, even if Hyeseong is a tick below Ha-Seong in the power department, his youth and athleticism should work in his favor. As mentioned, he is considered a strong defender and could be placed at multiple different positions. He has stolen between 20 and 46 bases in each of the past six seasons.

MLBTR predicted he could secure a three-year deal with a $24MM guarantee as part of the annual Top 50 Free Agents post. However, predicting the interest in a player making the move from overseas can be difficult, as players like Jung Hoo Lee and Masataka Yoshida both proved to have much more earning power than was assumed by forecasters.

The Mariners are reportedly interested in Kim but it stands to reason that plenty of others would be in the mix as well, given his versatility. Clubs like the Giants, White Sox, Marlins, Brewers and others are speculative fits. Players like Willy Adames, Ha-Seong Kim, Gleyber Torres and others are also available in the middle infield free agent market. They will be joined by Hyeseong but the 30-day posting window means there will be clarity on his status by the first few days of 2025, at the latest.

In addition to the money going to Kim, a signing club will also have to pay a posting fee to the Heroes, the value of which will depend upon the size of the contract. The fee will be calculated as 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.

Posting Window For Hyeseong Kim Likely To Begin Next Week

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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.

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