The Los Angeles Dodgers have reportedly signed infielder Hyeseong Kim to a three-year contract with $12.5 million guaranteed. according to Fabián Ardaya of The Athletic. The contract has a two-year option for the 2028 and 2029 seasons that could allow the deal to be worth up to $22 million.
MLB teams were able to negotiate a contract with Kim after it was released on December 5. The teams had until 5 pm ET on Friday to reach an agreement.
Kim, 25, who has played the past six seasons with the KBO’s Kiwoom Heroes, was the first player from South Korea and Japan to be called up this offseason and has been training in Los Angeles for the past month.
Kim, a left-handed hitter, is coming off a season with the Heroes in which he hit 11 home runs, drove in 75 runs, stole 30 bases and posted a .326 batting average. It was his fourth consecutive season batting over .300 and his seventh consecutive season with at least 20 stolen bases.
Over his eight-season career, Kim has hit .304/.364/.403 with 386 RBIs in 953 games. His 211 steals since 2018 are the most of any KBO player during that span.
Defensively, he is a three-time winner of the KBO Fielding Award. He won the award in 2021 as a shortstop and in 2022 and 2023 as a second baseman.
After the Dodgers played an exhibition in March against a team of Korean stars, manager Dave Roberts said Kim impressed the team’s scouts.
“Our scouts like the second baseman: just the way his body moves. The bat has some life in it and defensively he made a good play.” roberts said. “There are good baseball players all over the world and this is just another opportunity for us to see them and for them to play against us.”
With the signing of Kim and the re-signing of Teoscar Hernandez, that puts the Dodgers right at the 40-man roster limit, meaning someone will need to be pulled. And with Mookie Betts at shortstop and Gavin Lux at second base, Kim will play a utility role.
Kim is the fifth Heroes player to sign with an MLB team after Kang Jung-ho (Pittsburgh Pirates), Park Byung-ho (Minnesota Twins), Ha-seong Kim (San Diego Padres) and Jung-hoo Lee (San Francisco). Giants).
If Kim had not signed with an MLB team, he would have returned to the Heroes and could not be redeployed until after November 1, 2025.