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Hyun-soo Kim

Orioles Notes: Rice, Kim, Walker, Givens

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Earlier this morning, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko downplayed the Orioles’ reported interest in outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, but that’s far from the only Orioles chatter that’s circulating this morning. Here’s the latest out of Baltimore…

  • Orioles director of Major League administration Ned Rice has been hired away by the Phillies, reports Kubatko, who notes that Rice will serve as an assistant of sorts to president Andy MacPhail. Rich Dubroff of CSNMidAtlantic.com writes (near the bottom of his column) that Rice will be an assistant GM with the Phillies. With his new organization, Rice will be reunited with MacPhail and GM Matt Klentak, both of whom he knows well from the trio’s days in the Baltimore front office last decade.
  • Kubatko also hears that a move from left field to right field for Korean signee Hyun Soo Kim is out of the question due to concerns over his arm. Additionally, he notes that Kim’s contract does not allow him to be optioned to the Minors without his consent, and the contract also allows Kim to become a free agent after his two years are up. Per Kubatko, Kim could have received a longer contract worth a larger guaranteed sum by remaining in Korea, but his desire to play in the Majors outweighed the immediate financial opportunities in his home country. (Additionally, I’d note that with two strong years in the Majors — or even two competent years — Kim would be poised to earn significantly more than he could make in Korea.)
  • First base prospect Christian Walker tells Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun that he can’t help but follow the club’s pursuit of free agent Chris Davis and wonder about how either outcome would impact his future with the organization. Still, Walker tells Encina that his primary focus is on preparing for the 2016 campaign and returning to the Majors, where he’s received a small taste of 31 plate appearances. Walker, 24, has an impressive .292/.360/.488 batting line at the Double-A level but has struggled a bit more in Triple-A, batting .257/.327/.424. Walker, as Encina notes, fell out of Baseball America’s Top 10 Orioles prospects this season. He came in at No. 17 on Fangraphs’ recent breakdown of the Orioles’ prospects.
  • In another column, Kubatko reminds that the Orioles left right-hander Mychal Givens off their 40-man roster last winter, leaving him unprotected in the Rule 5 Draft. Any club could’ve had Givens, he notes, and the Orioles are fortunate to have retained his promising arm. Givens, a converted shortstop, struggled with his control in 2014 but had a breakout year in 2015 when he recorded a 1.73 ERA with 12.4 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 57 1/3 innings at Double-A. Givens, 25, made his big league debut last season in Baltimore and posted strikingly similar numbers: a 1.80 ERA with 11.4 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 in 30 innings. A change in arm slot and more experience on the mound helped the former infielder take his game to a new level, Kubaatko writes. http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2015/12/givens-not-assuming-hes-in-bullpen-in-2016.htmlGivens tells Kubatko that he’s not merely assuming that he’s won a spot in the 2016 ’pen — though I’d wager that’s a safe assumption.

Quick Hits: Cespedes, Iwakuma, Payrolls, Gordon, Orioles

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We at MLB Trade Rumors tip our caps to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun, who announced today that he is leaving the newspaper after a decade of fine work covering the Orioles.  Connolly’s name is a familiar one to MLBTR readers, as he has been a long-time source for Orioles information — just last week, in fact, Connolly broke the news that the O’s had agreed to sign Hyun-soo Kim.  We wish Dan all the best in his post-Sun endeavors and selfishly hope he keeps writing about baseball in some capacity in the future.

Onto some stocking-stuffer news items as we head into the birthday of Hall-of-Famers Rickey Henderson, Nellie Fox and Pud Galvin, a.k.a. Christmas Day…

  • Yoenis Cespedes’ market has been somewhat slow to develop, though “the Tigers appear to be sitting back waiting for” the free agent outfielder, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets.  Cespedes’ asking price may also be dropping as the offseason rolls along.  Detroit, Cespedes’ former team, has been linked to the slugger on the rumor mill but Tigers GM Al Avila said during the Winter Meetings that his team was out on both Cespedes and Alex Gordon.  That stance could change, of course, if Cespedes could be had at a lower price, though that feeling undoubtedly applies to more teams than just the Tigers.  The Angels, Orioles, Royals and Giants have also been rumored to have some level of interest in Cespedes this offseason.  Tim Dierkes predicted Cespedes for a six-year, $140MM contract while ranking him sixth on MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents list.
  • The Mariners’ somewhat unique re-signing of Hisashi Iwakuma and his first contact with the M’s is chronicled by Fangraphs’ Tony Blengino, who was working as a special assistant to the GM in Seattle when Iwakuma was first signed by the club.  Injury concerns have plagued Iwakuma throughout his career — in Japan, possibly scuttling an agreement to join the A’s in 2011, during his stint as a Mariner and a red-flag physical that caused the Dodgers to back away from a three-year agreement.  Blengino also provides some interesting background into how teams approach physicals, as “there’s a fine line between being ’hurt’ and ’injured,’ and an MRI can find damage in just about any shoulder or elbow….It all comes down to the injury risk, in conjunction with the anticipated player production and dollar investment.”
  • A club’s payroll figures consists of far more than just the salaries of the 25-man roster, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times illustrates using the Mariners as an example.
  • Alex Gordon checks the boxes of everything the Royals would want in a franchise player, yet as Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star writes, the financial realities of a mid-market franchise make it unrealistic or even unwise for the Royals to splurge and re-sign the outfielder.  As was reported yesterday, there may be “no chance” of a reunion between the two sides if the Royals’ best offer is only four years and between $48MM-$52MM, a dollar figure Gordon may end up doubling on the open market.
  • Hyun-soo Kim had a “follow up” to his first physical with the Orioles that caused a delay in the club’s official announcement of their contract with the Korean outfielder, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reports.  Despite the delay, “Kim never was in real danger of failing his physical,” so it appears the O’s were just being cautious.
  • In a separate item from Kubatko, he provides “non-update updates” on several bits of Orioles offseason business, noting that there haven’t been any new developments in the team’s talks with free agents like Chris Davis, Wei-Yin Chen, Yovani Gallardo or Scott Kazmir.

Latest On Hyun-Soo Kim

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TODAY: Kim has strong offers in his native Korea and appears likely to remain there, a source tells Rich Dubroff of CSNmidatlantic.com (via Twitter).

But there are other MLB clubs in pursuit also, tweets Connolly. He says that the Padres may also have made an offer.

YESTERDAY: The Orioles appear to have serious interest in Korean outfielder Hyun-Soo Kim, according to report from Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links). Baltimore has already extended Kim a two-year offer that would likely guarantee him $3MM to $4MM per season and is continuing to negotiate with his representatives.

Kim, who’ll soon turn 28, just reached free agent eligibility after nine seasons with the KBO’s Doosan Bears. He has reportedly received offers from multiple MLB clubs, though it appears that Baltimore is the first club to be publicly tied to an actual offer.

The Orioles have long been said to be looking for one or more outfielders, and a commitment of that magnitude would suggest that Kim would slot into at least a semi-regular role. Baltimore utilized a variety of platoon options in the corner last year, but Kim would “likely” feature in left if signed, Connolly adds via Twitter.

Kim has put up a big .318/.406/.488 slash in the offensively robust KBO, and last year had his best-ever showing. Not only did he slash .326/.438/.541, but Kim also banged a career-best 28 home runs. But Kim’s real calling card is in the on-base arena. Unlike some other KBO players who have moved over to MLB (or have shown interest in doing so), Kim is a master of plate discipline. Last year, he struck out only 63 times while drawing 101 free passes.

While the money that the O’s have reportedly put on the table certainly represents a significant figure, it’s not the kind of cash that teams generally must part with to add regular or semi-regular players. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports had suggested at one point that Kim might slot in “toward the top of the next tier of corner outfielders” behind the four major free agents, but that does not appear to be the case — unless Baltimore’s offer is wholly non-competitive.

Latest On Orioles’ Pursuit Of Bats

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2:19pm: Baltimore is one of several teams to have checked in on Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.

12:25pm: Will Venable could also present an option for the Orioles, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets.

10:02am: Baltimore met twice with Scott Boras regarding Davis and have told him that they “soon might pivot” to other options, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links). Meanwhile, Baltimore is “out” on both Mitch Moreland of the Rangers and Adam Lind of the Brewers.

The O’s also have been looking at 27-year-old Korean outfielder Hyun-soo Kim, a polished hitter who is available as a free agent.

9:39am: The Orioles met recently with Justin Upton’s agent, Larry Reynolds, as the team continues to pursue power options in free agency, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. Baltimore reportedly made a huge offer to Chris Davis, but seems to be pursuing other avenues as well.

Meanwhile, the club is “hoping” to add a left-handed hitter (possibly in addition to a pitcher) at some point today, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports on Twitter. In theory, at least, that could represent a free agent outfielder as Gerardo Parra or Alex Gordon, a slugging first base/DH option such as Pedro Alvarez, some unknown trade target, or a major move on Davis.

It’s not immediately clear what level of interest the O’s have in Upton, but it could be more of an opportunistic fit than the team’s dogged pursuit of Davis. As Kubatko tweets, the club “won’t pass up impact” regardless whether the hitter acquired is a righty or a lefty. And as MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli notes on Twitter, executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette has said the team will be aggressive rather than waiting to see what Davis decides.

KBO’s Hyun-Soo Kim Has Multiple Offers From MLB Clubs

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Korean outfield star Hyun-soo Kim has received “multiple offers” from Major League teams, his agents in Korea tell Daniel Kim of KBS Sports (Twitter link). Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency also hears from a source that the soon-to-be 28-year-old Kim has “concrete offers” from MLB. While neither reporter lists specific teams, a second source tells Yoo that the Athletics are taking a long look at Kim, as their regional scout in Korea compiled a “glowing report” on Kim, who is nicknamed the “Hitting Machine” in Korea. The Braves have also scouted Kim extensively, according to Yoo, though their outfield situation may not have much room if Hector Olivera is permanently slotted into left field.

Kim is an unrestricted free agent, having completed nine full seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization despite his relatively young age. After debuting and receiving a single plate appearance as an 18-year-old with the KBO’s Doosan Bears, Kim established himself as a regular just 19 years of age, hitting .273/.335/.398 with five homers and five steals in 99 games.

From that point forth, Kim has batted above .300 in all but one season — he hit .291 in 2012 — and posted outstanding on-base percentage marks while showing some power. The left-handed hitter has authored a .318/.406/.488 hitter as a professional in Korea and is coming off his best season: a .326/.438/.541 batting line with a career-high 28 home runs. Kim struck out just 63 times in 630 plate appearances in 2015 (10 percent) against an impressive 101 walks. That should come as no surprise, considering Kim has walked more often than he’s struck out in six of his nine seasons and has 597 walks to 501 strikeouts over the life his tenure in the KBO. Yoo describes Kim’s defense in left field as “solid,” noting that he also showed a bit of versatility by filling in at first base a few times in 2015.

Kim’s Korean agent, Esther Lee, will travel to the United States for next week’s Winter Meetings in Nashville. He is co-represented by the Wasserman Media Group, writes Yoo, who will of course have agents at the meetings as well. In addition to Oakland, some clubs that could be in the market for a left-handed bat in left field include the Angels, Royals, Reds. Orioles, Indians and Giants, though that list is simply speculation on my behalf.

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