The Blue Jays are among the teams that have made an offer to free agent infielder Ha-Seong Kim, reports Daniel Kim of ESPN (Twitter link). It’s said to be a proposal of at least five years in length. Daniel Kim reported earlier this week that Ha-Seong Kim was mulling multiple five-year offers.
Kim can play anywhere in the infield and has raked over six-plus seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization. Last season, he hit .306/.397/.523 with 30 home runs in 622 plate appearances for the Kiwoom Heroes. The club posted him earlier this month. MLB teams have until January 1 to work out a deal.
Because of his youth, Kim could appeal to rebuilding and contending clubs alike. The Blue Jays are looking to cement themselves as part of the latter group and have been connected to nearly every high-profile free agent and trade candidate this winter. Toronto has an obvious need for an everyday infielder to join Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the dirt. Were Kim to sign with the Jays, they could plug him directly into their gap at third base, or he could take over at shortstop and bump Bichette to the vacant infield position. At the start of the offseason, the MLBTR staff ranked Kim the #7 available free agent and projected a five-year, $40MM contract.