The Cincinnati Reds have made a few moves this offseason to try and improve their squad for 2025. The big moves, though, have come from trades – acquiring starting pitcher Brady Singer from the Kansas City Royals for Jonathan India and minor leaguer Joey Wiemer, and trading for backup catcher Jose Trevino by sending the New York Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz and minor league catcher Alex Jackson. They haven’t dabbled in free agency yet, but the latest rumor is that they are interested in Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim.
Sports N Plus – a Korean Youtube channel – is reporting that there are multiple teams that have made offers to infielder Hyeseong Kim and that the Cincinnati Reds are one of those clubs. We won’t have to wait very long until to find out how it plays out as Kim must have an agreement by January 3rd at 5pm ET. That’s Friday.
Given his age and experience he is considered a big league free agent and can sign with any team for as much money and as many years as they will offer him. MLB Trade Rumors projected him for a 3-year deal for a total of $24,000,000 earlier in the offseason. Sports N Plus mentioned something closer to three years and $20,000,000. However, that’s just what a team would have to pay Kim. If he signs for under $25,000,000 the signing team will also have to pay 20% of the contracts value to the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization. At $25,000,000 that would be $5,000,000 – so signing for less than that, it would obviously be cheaper.
As for Hyeseong Kim and what he could bring to the team he’s considered more of a defensive player at the big league level than a hitter. The soon-to-be 26-year-old is coming off of his two best offensive seasons. In 2023 he hit .335/.396/.446 with seven home runs in 137 games and in 2024 he hit .326/.383/.458 with a career high 11 home runs in 127 games.
The Korean Baseball Organization is a bit hitter friendly. In 2024 the league average OPS was .772 (it was .712 in 2023). The league had 56% more home runs in 2024 than they had in 2023, so something certainly changed this past season within the league. Former Cincinnati Red Matt Davidson, who hit .210/.273/.425 in 2023 while playing in Japan, hit .306/.370/.633 with a league best 46 home runs in 2024 while in the KBP – just to give some added context of things.
Where Kim stands out a bit more on the offensive side of things is on the bases. He’s stolen 211 bases and has been caught just 37 times in his 952 game career dating back to when he was an 18-year-old with Nexen. He has speed and he does seem to know how to use it well.
Defensively he’s played multiple spots. In his first four seasons he only play on the infield and almost all of that came at second base and shortstop. But in 2020 he saw action in 44 games in left field. Since then he hasn’t played in the outfield and has been limited to time at shortstop and second.
With his lack of power it’s tough to see him as an every day player on a team where everyone else is healthy. But with his speed, defensive versatility, and perhaps his contact ability (he struck out just 62 times in 567 plate appearances – though it’s yet to be known how that would translate against big league pitching) – he could profile as a solid bench player.
You can see the career stats for Hyeseong Kim here.
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