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The Blue Jays have been rumoured to be an active player in the infield market this offseason. Names such as Francisco Lindor, D.J. LeMahieu, and Kolten Wong have been the focal points of those rumours, but there seems to be a name from outside the MLB gaining traction as a possible addition for the Blue Jays.
That player is Ha-Seong Kim of South Korea.
Infielder Ha-Seong Kim is one of the top free agents in Asia after completing his seventh season in the Korean Baseball Championship (KBO). Kim is only 25 years old and already has hit for over .300 in three seasons, including .306 last year. He also hit 30 home runs and had 109 RBI’s to go along with that batting average.
Kim is primarily a shortstop but also can play second and third base, meaning the Jays might want him to be their next great versatile infielder.
The Blue Jays also seem to have a little step on whichever other MLB teams are interested in Kim. Recently, Blue Jays ace and fellow Korean Hyun Jin Ryu had dinner with Kim.
Apparently, the dinner went well, as the two talked about baseball over in the MLB. It’s hard not to say the dinner didn’t have at least a little chatter about the possibility of Kim signing with the Blue Jays.
According to Jason Lee of Yonhap News, Kim recently spoke about his dinner with Ryu and had some things to say about it that might interest Blue Jays fans. “Ryu gave me a lot of advice that gave me confidence. It would be an honour to play with him, and I think it would make my transition to the MLB a lot easier.”
That’s a pretty powerful statement for a player to make about free agency. It shows that Kim does have an interest in joining the Blue Jays; just how big is currently unknown.
There’s a decent chance that Ross Atkins also has an interest in bringing him here to Toronto. It’s tough to know for sure if the Blue Jays asked Ryu to meet with Kim, but it’s possible.
Kim had impressive numbers while in the KBO for someone who is still in his mid-20’s. He has room to still develop, and even though he might not step right into the MLB and hit .300, he can develop into that player over time. The KBO isn’t the same level of competition that the MLB is but it’s still an extremely talented league. Hitting .300 in that league, and in Kim’s case three times (.294 career batting average in KBO), is no small accomplishment.
A decision on Kim might be dependent on where the Jays are with LeMahieu. Kim is younger, but there isn’t a clear idea of what he develops into here in the MLB. With LeMahieu, the Jays know precisely what they are getting, one of the best bats in the entire league.
The same can be said if the Jays do end up swinging a trade with Cleveland and bringing in Lindor. Tough to imagine Kim signing with a team without some assurance that he will be regularly in the starting lineup, and if the Jays get either of those players, that makes finding room for Kim on the everyday lineup a bit more challenging.
Kim likely won’t cost anywhere close to what LeMahieu or Lindor would make per season, but there’s also the fact that whichever team signs Kim will have to pay his KBO team, the Kiwoom Heroes, a transfer fee. According to Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumours, in addition to the contract itself, the signing team will owe the Kiwoom Heroes 20% of Kim’s first 25M in value, 17.5% of the next 25M, and 15% of anything beyond 50M. Over time, that’s no small price tag.
Kim is a fascinating player, much like many big-name free agent pitchers who come over from Asia. Some players pan out and become all-stars in the MLB; some never reach the potential surrounding all the hype when they first came to North America.
Regardless, if the Jays miss out on some of the infielders here in the MLB they are interested in, they seem to have a realistic shot at signing the 25-year-old Ha-Seong Kim, with maybe a little help from last season’s prize free agent signing Ryu.
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