The Braves on Monday prolonged their relationship with Ha-Seong Kim for one more season, re-signing the infielder to a one-year, $20 million contract to develop into their beginning shortstop, the workforce introduced.
Kim, who initially joined the Braves once they claimed him off waivers from the Rays on Sept. 1, grew to become a free agent in November after he opted out of his $16 million contract choice. That choice was a part of the two-year deal he signed final offseason that assured him $31 million. All informed, the transfer gained Kim an additional $4 million whereas nonetheless returning him to an Atlanta clubhouse the place he felt snug.
“I do know he appreciated the expertise,” Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos mentioned. “It was only a consolation, like something, if you’re round somebody and also you get to know him and the way effectively he slot in.”
On the entire, 2025 was a irritating marketing campaign for the Bucheon, South Korea, native, whose Rays debut was delayed till July as he rehabbed from surgical procedure the earlier October to restore a torn labrum in his proper shoulder. Kim strained his calf shortly after returning and twice landed on the IL with again accidents. However after the Braves claimed him, Kim stayed wholesome and notably improved, batting .309/.372/.456 over his first 19 video games along with his new workforce — numbers dampened solely by a 1-for-19 stretch to shut out the season.
His month-plus in Atlanta was an element within the Braves re-signing him, Anthopoulos famous.
“I can inform you it helped on our finish, simply from a consolation standpoint,” Anthopoulos mentioned. “I really feel like despite the fact that he wasn’t right here that lengthy, a month was fairly vital. He slot in rapidly.”
Restricted to simply 48 video games on the 12 months — 24 for Tampa Bay and 24 for Atlanta — Kim slashed .234/.304/.345 (83 OPS+) with 5 residence runs. He additionally had -3 Outs Above Common on protection.
That efficiency stood as an outlier to his earlier work, particularly with the glove. The shortstop joined the Padres on a four-year, $28 million deal in December 2020, coming over to Main League Baseball after seven seasons in Korea’s KBO. Over these 4 years, Kim produced a .242/.326/.380 slash (99 OPS+) with 47 homers and 78 steals in 540 video games, including 23 OAA.
“He’s solely 30,” Anthopoulos mentioned. “It’s somebody that we appreciated final offseason, however we simply knew it wasn’t the cleanest match as a result of there was a world when he got here again [from surgery], he must play second base initially, an clearly we had Ozzie [Albies] at that spot.”
Kim had his finest season in 2023, setting profession highs in homers (17), steals (38), OPS (.749) and bWAR (5.4) and profitable a Gold Glove on the utility spot. The Padres made Kim their full-time shortstop in 2024, even after having signed shortstop Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million deal in December 2022.
“We expect there’s some extra energy there,” Anthopoulos mentioned. “We expect the pace goes to proceed to return again to the place it was, the stolen bases, the baserunning, the protection and so forth. So I believe we’ve received an excellent likelihood to get the man he was these years with San Diego. That could possibly be a 3- to 4-WAR participant.”
Again in Atlanta, Kim will push veteran Mauricio Dubón right into a bench position. Dubón, whom the Braves acquired from the Astros final month, includes a comparable skillset as a strong defender with a contact bat. However Kim boasts extra energy and has been a powerful on a regular basis participant up to now. When the Braves signed him, Anthopoulos referred to as Dubón to clarify the state of affairs.
“We by no means promised him a task or something after we received him,” Anthopoulos mentioned. “He understood if we didn’t do something on the shortstop place, he would get that chance. However the little I’ve gotten to know him — and I’ve informed him this — the vitality’s off the charts, a [good] teammate [who has] the power to play plus protection in all places, hit left-handers, all that stuff. … This was a chance in our thoughts to enhance the ballclub, enhance the depth.”
