The Chicago Cubs could actually be a possible landing spot for Korean baseball phenom utility-man Hyeseong Kim.
UPDATE: The Los Angeles Dodgers steal away the Cubs free agent target in Hyeseong Kim per Foul Territory and per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
The Chicago Cubs could add another infielder to sure up their depth with them needing someone till fill in at second base until Nico Hoerner recovers from his surgery, as well as finding a starting third basemen. Third base seems to be filled with top prospect and future star Matt Shaw getting the nod from Jed Hoyer and the Cubs organization to go out and win the job. With today being the deadline for Korean star Hyeseong Kim to sign with a Major League team, the Chicago Cubs were listed as a possible landing spot for the versatile infielder.
Hyeseong Kim
The 25-year-old Kim is one of the KBOs top stars and he is looking to bring his talents to Major League Baseball to go up against tougher competition and show he can play with the best of the best. During his 2024 season Kim played in 127 games where he had 166 hits, 26 doubles, 4 triples, 11 HRs, 75 RBI, with a slash line of .326/.383/.458 for an OPS of .841.
Why the Chicago Cubs should consider Kim?
The left-handed hitting Kim would add a lot of depth to a Chicago Cubs roster that could use another infielder. If the Chicago Cubs were to sign Kim he would most likely figure to have a spot on the bench and given his versatility and looking to have a bat that can play he would figure to be the top option off the bench. The Cubs currently have a need on the bench and for someone to fill in at second until Nico Hoerner returns at some point early in the season. Kim has the ability to play second, third, shortstop, and left field.
According to FranGraphs the Chicago Cubs bench figures to have a mix of Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya splitting the catching duties, along with Gage Workman who they acquired in last years Rule 5 Draft possibly getting a look at third, as well as newly acquired utility-man Vidal Bruján, and Alexander Canario being the fourth outfielder. The likely odd man out of the Cubs brought Kim in figures to be Bruján who so far in his time in the Major Leagues has not been able to put things together at the plate. With Kim showing some offensive prowess he would figure to be a better option than Bruján.
The Korean League posting process
The Korean League posting process is a lot different than that of the process it is to acquire a player from Japan. According to MLB.com the way the posting system works is this:
“When the posted player signs a Minor League contract, the KBO team receives a payment equal to 25% of the signing bonus. Under KBO rules, a club is allowed to post only one player at a time and cannot allow more than one player to leave via the posting process per offseason.”
Conclusion
With today being the deadline for teams to sign Kim, if he doesn’t end up signing then Kim will return to the KBO to hopefully have more success and hopefully try again at another point down the road. Overall if the Cubs did sign Kim it would be a great deal for them. With them showing interest in Josh Rojas who signed with the Chicago White Sox, it would make perfect sense for them to sign Kim given he is the same caliber of player. Hopefully by the end of the day we will be hearing that the Chicago Cubs did in fact land Hyeseong Kim.
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