NEWSLETTER
I really didn’t want to jinx it, but the lack of widespread reporting on 25-year-old KBO shortstop Ha-Seong Kim was not lost on me this offseason. News followed him throughout November – no doubt about it – but from the early rumors, to his posting delay, to his official posting date … there just wasn’t much noise from other teams.
Meanwhile, considering his (1) age, (2) youth, (3) position, (4) offensive approach, and (5) potentially reasonable price tag, Kim was that rare Cubs target that could fit into the budget, as well as the short and long-term plans for the Cubs under Jed Hoyer. I mean, he still does.
But one of the more aggressive (well, rumored) teams is already on Kim in a big way:
#BlueJays appear to have real interest in Kim. Their ace dined with him. Intriguing talent, even if it's unclear how offensive numbers will translate from KBO.
AGM Joe Sheehan: "The performance in the KBO has been quite strong … he fits into that infield market really well." https://t.co/uAkXCM32k1
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) December 8, 2020
The Blue Jays are one of a small handful of teams expected to spend big money this offseason, and have already been connected to a number of infielders in both free agency and trade (including Francisco Lindor). They do already have Vladimir Guerrero Jr. wanting to move back to third base next season, as well as Bo Bichette at shortstop, and Cavan Biggio at second, but Guerro Jr. could move back to first, opening up a lot of flexibility to add one more starting infielder. Kim is not Lindor, but clearly they’ve decided that they can add to the infield despite a pretty loaded group already.
So while their interest in Kim COULD be seen as a way to regain some leverage on the trade/free agent market (fingers crossed that’s all it is), don’t miss that Kim met and had dinner with Hyun-Jin Ryu already. It doesn’t sound like they knew each other previously, but let’s not pretend like having someone with whom you can speak and more easily identify isn’t an attractive part of the package (to say nothing about a potentially lucrative offer from an obviously competitive team).
Can the Cubs compete with that? Of course. But as a cost-conscious spender, it’s not great to have competition like the Blue Jays – especially when the momentum is already moving in their direction. So I suppose if you are as hot for Kim as we are here at Bleacher Nation, you’re rooting for the Blue Jays to pull off a deal for Lindor (or another middle infielder) as soon as possible.
Speaking of which, the timing component here really mucks things up.
The Indians may want to wait as long as possible on Lindor to ensure they get the right return for letting their star player walk away, but Kim is on a timeline. He *must* have a deal in place by January 1st, and early rumors suggested that he actually wanted things settled by Christmas. So if the Blue Jays start to feel Lindor (again, or another shortstop) slipping away, they might pull the trigger on Kim sooner than later.
I don’t want to set unfair expectations for Kim, who won’t necessarily be a sure-fire, All-Star type middle infielder right away, but he really does check so many boxes for the Cubs and is probably the most realistic opportunity to actually add long-term talent (without subtracting any) this winter.
