NEWSLETTER
There is no offseason! Er, wait … there is no season? You know what I mean. The Cubs still look at signings and stuff even during the season. Something like that. Great intro.
The Cubs and several other teams have their eyes on a lefty ace in South Korea’s top baseball league, Kwang-Hyun Kim:
Kim's fastball sits in low-90's but can reach mid-90's when needed. His slider has a sharp break and is a sure ML pitch. He's become a better pitcher in recent years utilizing more of his secondary pitches (curveball and forkball) and showing better control (1.81 BB/9 IP this yr)
— Sung Min Kim (@sung_minkim) August 14, 2019
Curveball at 111 kmph (~69 mph) pic.twitter.com/9mn4Wa1yWZ
— Sung Min Kim (@sung_minkim) August 14, 2019
Kim, 31, was posted five years ago – and then again was a free agent a couple years later – but has yet to come over to MLB.
Signed through 2020, I wonder if his club in the KBO would try to cash in on his success by trying once again to post him this offseason. Failing that, he’s scheduled to be a free agent again after next season. Either way, teams are clearly building out their book on him. We’ll keep our eyes on his story to see if he winds up becoming available, and if the Cubs give him a look in that case.
It’s still way too early to look ahead, but the Cubs have one scheduled free agent in their rotation, Cole Hamels, though they could plausibly offer him a qualifying offer and/or look to extend him. Kyle Hendricks and Yu Darvish are locked up for a little while yet, but Jose Quintana and Tyler Chatwood are free agents after 2020, and Jon Lester could also depart (he is signed through next year with a team option for 2021). In theory, the Cubs will be seeing a wave of minor league pitchers coming up by then, but it still makes sense to think ahead, particularly when you have an older rotation as it is.
