The hot stove is once again lit, folks!
On this cold and dreary day here in the Atlanta metro area, the Hot Stove has once again been lit by the Atlanta Braves front office. This time, they’ve managed to solve their shortstop problem by bringing back the player who held down the position for the final month of the season. Jon Heyman of the New York Post was the first to report that the Braves had signed Ha-Seong Kim to a $20 million deal and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic confirmed that it was a one-year deal.
It turns out that the one-month “trial” in Atlanta ended up paying off for both parties — the Braves were in desperate need of a shortstop and Ha-Seong Kim (a Scott Boras client) was looking to cash in on being one of the highest-profile free agent shortstops in a particularly weak market for shortstops this offseason. He would’ve made $16 million had he accepted his player option but instead, he’s managed to get the Braves to pony up an extra $4 million for this upcoming season.
The Braves had acquired Mauricio Dubón from the Houston Astros earlier in the offseason and for the time being, Atlanta was prepared to settle for Dubón being their starting shortstop on Opening Day despite being more suited to being a Swiss Army knife-type player who could fit in whenever needed instead of as an everyday player. Now, the Braves will be able to fully utilize Dubón in a flexible manner as they’ve addressed the shortstop position with this move.
They’ve addressed shortstop in a big way as well — MLB Trade Rumors had Kim tabbed as a Top 30 free agent and one of the top shortstop free agents as well. If the Braves weren’t going to swing for the fences by going for Bo Bichette then a reunion with Ha-Seong Kim made all the sense in the world. A one-year deal is a bit unexpected as well since it wouldn’t have been surprising at all to see him get a multi-year deal in this market but ultimately, it appears that both parties are pretty happy to run it back for a full season after the good month that Kim had to end the season with the Braves.
Kim hit .253/.316/.368 with a .301 wOBA and 91 wRC+ with three homers over the course of the final month of the season that he spent with Atlanta — numbers that aren’t exactly mind-blowing but when you compare that production to what the Braves were getting at the plate from their shortstop options before they picked him up, he may as well have been one of the members of Murderer’s Row. Hopefully Kim will produce at the plate at a level that he reached during his time with the Padres and if that’s the case (along with some solid defense as well) then Atlanta’s going to be very happy with Ha-Seong Kim going forward.
For now, Alex Anthopoulos has pulled off another hit here in the offseason and suddenly this roster is really starting to come together. Atlanta’s infield is now set and they’ve bolstered their depth in the process. This is pretty encouraging, y’all.
Category: General Sports
