Is Ha-Seong Kim the Perfect Man to Fill the Void Willy Adames Leaves?

[Jake McKibbin]

Elite defense. Consistent bat. Sneaky power. Fast. And a possible short-term deal. Checking all of these boxes, this utility infielder may be the ideal target for the Brewers this offseason.

Image courtesy of © Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

At this point, most Brewers fans have resigned themselves to the loss of Willy Adames for 2025 and beyond, leaving a gaping hole in their lineup and their infield. Oliver Dunn has an intriguing ceiling, but hasn’t quite established the requisite quality of contact at the majors to be successful, while Brock Wilken, Mike Boeve and Cooper Pratt are at least a year from being ready for the major-league team.

There’s a hole to be filled, and in Ha-Seong Kim, the Brewers may have an ideal, budget-friendly target to fill that hole. At the moment, Kim has a mutual option for $8 million that he's expected to turn down. He also underwent season-ending shoulder surgery to fix a small tear in his labrum. He won’t be taking part in the Padres’ postseason run, but his value to the franchise over his four years has been well above the $7-million AAV his contract was worth. Kim has recently changed representation to the Boras Corporation, further signifying his intention to hit free agency this offseason.

First of all, the Brewers' model demands strong defense on their infield, as a way of elevating the floor of the player even should the bat slump. Where Adames’s glove slumped last season, that’s far less likely to happen with Kim, who has both the speed and smooth actions to continue being a positive defender all around the infield. Over his four years, he’s recorded 24 Defensive Runs Saved at shortstop, 9 at third base and 15 at second base. That's an average of 12 DRS per season, with positive metrics for Ultimate Zone Rating, Outs Above Average and Fielding Run Value for each position as well. He’s a universally acclaimed defender with great range and a strong arm, who can make plays like this on a regular basis:

Kim is also fast, with strong instincts on the basepaths. In a full season of plate appearances in 2023, he stole 38 bases, adding a further 22 swipes in 2024 despite some time on the injured list. The speed helps him both defensively and on the basepaths, but it’s his bat that’s really intriguing.

Kim isn’t a slugger. He doesn’t hit the ball hard with regularity. However, he has the ability to turn on the ball to the pull side. Since 2023, he’s hit 28 home runs in 1,000 plate appearances, a more than acceptable number, but to focus on that would be a detriment to everything else Kim brings to the plate:

The average exit velocity and hard-hit rates are going to stay, but the swathe of red at the bottom of the graphic above are fascinating. The plate discipline and knowledge of the strike zone, plus the ability to find ideal launch angles into the outfield, is a very strong combination. It provides a good floor for him at the plate. This bears out, with each of his last three seasons featuring a wRC+ north of 100.

The home run production may tick up a little, as well, should Kim come to Milwaukee. Petco Park has a bigger left field than American Family Field, to the point that had all his games been played in Milwaukee this season, he’d have stroked 15 home runs in just 400 plate appearances. As you can see, this power is very much of the Isaac Paredes mold: pull, pull, and pull some more:

He may not hit the ball hard with regularity, but Kim’s best ability is his baseball nous. He knows his swing, knows the strike zone, knows how to run the bases and knows his defensive roles, to the point where he can excel at all four elements of the game. He’s exactly the type of player the Brewers could use to fill their third base gap.

Over a full season, Kim is a 3-3.5 WAR player, but the shoulder surgery and lower playing time this year may have dented his market value somewhat. Someone may far outbid the field and offer a three- or four-year deal for him, but the likelihood is that Kim will be offered around $12 million in AAV. The Brewers have a lot of very talented depth in their system, but they could do with a solid big-league regular over the next two years. 

Kim could very easily fill that hole, and within a shorter pull-side park, get a full year under his belt after the injury to set himself up for a longer contract in 2026. The Brewers may be the perfect place to do so, with a two-year, $25-28 million deal featuring a player option.

Kim screams “Brewer,” when you see how he plays baseball. He avoids strikeouts, draws walks, has sneaky power, runs the bases incredibly well and plays genuinely elite defense. If he gains a clean bill of health after his shoulder repair, the Brewers should pounce.

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Can you see Kim on the 2025 iteration of this team? Would you pick him up on this deal? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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[Trax]

I like him or the Brewers if we can get him for decent numbers but in reality I think this team is better off spending some extra money by tying up present players (like Contreras) where possible long term and/or spend FA money on an arm or two.

Turang could easily slide to SS but he is so gold glove at 2nd we must leave him there, and easy to do with Ortiz available to move to his natural position.  3B is a need.  Black could likely fill the void for a while, and I'm not so sure Boeve couldn't at some point take over there.   

[Ro Mueller]

Thanks for this. I’d found him intriguing as well. Any chance he’d actually take the SS job, with Ortiz staying at 3B?

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, Trax said:

I like him or the Brewers if we can get him for decent numbers but in reality I think this team is better off spending some extra money by tying up present players (like Contreras) where possible long term and/or spend FA money on an arm or two.

Turang could easily slide to SS but he is so gold glove at 2nd we must leave him there, and easy to do with Ortiz available to move to his natural position.  3B is a need.  Black could likely fill the void for a while, and I'm not so sure Boeve couldn't at some point take over there.   

I'm a Boeve fan & am also looking forward to Wilkin having an injury & drama-free year in 2025. But I'm pretty sure the ship has sailed on Black factoring in at 3B. If he remains in the organization I suspect they're viewing him as a 1B-OF type. He really didn't play much 3B at Nashville this past year.

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

Kim seems to check off a lot of boxes, as long as he's good with the idea of being a fulltime 3B. I only bring that up because he's spent much more time at second & short, although he's been a very good defender while playing 3B & that's definitely where I'd want him as I want to see Ortiz move to SS.

I never knew he was such a heavy pull-side guy. Interesting.

[Jake McKibbin]

18 minutes ago, Ro Mueller said:

Thanks for this. I’d found him intriguing as well. Any chance he’d actually take the SS job, with Ortiz staying at 3B?

I could see that, though I think either combination between Ortiz and Kim on the left side of the infield would be an incredibly strong defensive set up.

Kim has more history at short stop but his versatility and historical usage allows the Brewers to go with whatever combination they see is stronger, something they definitely couldn't do with Adames

[tmwiese55]

If that mid level contract is a possibility yes it makes sense. I assumed he's wanting to lock in his 5-6 year payday though.   

I'd personally guess Kim would be considered the better SS on D and stay there.  I'd also think he'd demand that in his signing in order to keep his future value higher.   But my basic understanding on him is that he's considered at the top top on D at SS so most teams would put him over Ortiz, but who knows.  If its considered a wash then it doesn't really matter for the Brewers

[sveumrules]

Kim will be interesting to follow with the shoulder situation. Would be a pretty nice fit for all the reasons you mentioned otherwise.

Could be a candidate to accept the QO if the Padres offer it.

[HarveysWBs]

I’ve made no secret of my wishes to get Kim on the Brewers roster for several years now. Where it did not work before, now with the shoulder thing, he seems exactly the type of player we’d target in the offseason, too: good not great player, needs to rebuild some value after an injury.

I’m sure it will work out even better for the Crew than it did with Winker and Hoskins. Third time is the charm…

[wallus]

Kim seems like a guy we hope doesn't sign early and we swoop in late. Any ideas on what the predicted contract for him is?

[jay87shot]

1 hour ago, wallus said:

Kim seems like a guy we hope doesn't sign early and we swoop in late. Any ideas on what the predicted contract for him is?

I would expect him to get like 3/50 minimum up to maybe 5/100+. Kim wasn't great this year but has had 2 5 WAR seasons in a row. If he holds out and gets left in the dry like Chapman, Belly, and Snell. 

[Ron750]

An aging player coming off an injury and represented by Scott Boras. Like Rhys Hoskins. I’ll pass.  Boras stuck us for an $18 million option, for a player hitting 0.214. 

[sveumrules]

41 minutes ago, Ron750 said:

An aging player coming off an injury and represented by Scott Boras. Like Rhys Hoskins. I’ll pass.  Boras stuck us for an $18 million option, for a player hitting 0.214. 

Kim is aging sure but he’s also heading into his age 29 season as a SS versus Hoskins who was heading into his age 31 season as a 1B/DH. Ha-Seong is starting from a much younger and more athletic place than Rhys was.

Boras didn’t really stick the Brewers with anything, both sides negotiated and agreed to the contract.

The Brewers understood if Hoskins didn’t have a good enough year to warrant opting out that they would be on the hook for the second year and were fine with assuming that risk, or they wouldn’t have put pen to paper.

[Austin Tatious]

Great article, Jake.  Good data. 

Mike Boeve is another guy.  He might not be ready out of the gate but all he does is hit.   300 AB at Double A with an .820 OPS and .306 average.  If he starts 2025 at AAA and performs similarly, he could be a mid-season factor.  He bats left handed.  

He’s from the same neck of the woods as Wade Boggs and has that type of look and approach (although I’m not comparing his ability to a guy with 3000 hits and in the HOF).  

[sveumrules]

1 hour ago, Austin Tatious said:

Great article, Jake.  Good data. 

Mike Boeve is another guy.  He might not be ready out of the gate but all he does is hit.   300 AB at Double A with an .820 OPS and .306 average.  If he starts 2025 at AAA and performs similarly, he could be a mid-season factor.  He bats left handed.  

He’s from the same neck of the woods as Wade Boggs and has that type of look and approach (although I’m not comparing his ability to a guy with 3000 hits and in the HOF).  

I like all of Boeve, Wilken, and Adams but I'm curious how much the Brewers really view any of them as 3B at the MLB level with none of them really profiling as plus defenders at the hot corner.

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, sveumrules said:

I like all of Boeve, Wilken, and Adams but I'm curious how much the Brewers really view any of them as 3B at the MLB level with none of them really profiling as plus defenders at the hot corner.

It's been my belief that at least one of them gets looked at as a 1B at some point. With Burke & Martinez at least in the organizational conversation, that leaves you with a lot of numbers to throw at the corners in the AA-AAA levels (I suspect they'll also want to find a lot of AAA ABs for Dunn). I see 2025 as an intriguing year in N'ville & Biloxi.

[Brock Beauchamp]

On 10/11/2024 at 9:39 PM, jay87shot said:

I would expect him to get like 3/50 minimum up to maybe 5/100+. Kim wasn't great this year but has had 2 5 WAR seasons in a row. If he holds out and gets left in the dry like Chapman, Belly, and Snell. 

Yeah, Jake mentions $12m in this article but I'd pay way more for Kim than that. He's still only 28, I think he gets more in the $15-18m AAV range over four-ish years.

[Jake McKibbin]

3 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Yeah, Jake mentions $12m in this article but I'd pay way more for Kim than that. He's still only 28, I think he gets more in the $15-18m AAV range over four-ish years.

I wouldn't be averse to a two year deal in that range, but after that I'm not sure.

He's likely to provide good value across his contract with a really strong base, but it's more a reluctance from the Brewers need for a longer contract than that.

I think I've maybe undersold it a little, and his market competition will do  the Brewers no favours in the value department, but given his lack of "sexiness" as a player and the shoulder surgery they may be able to swoop in for a shorter term deal

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, Jake McKibbin said:

I wouldn't be averse to a two year deal in that range, but after that I'm not sure.

He's likely to provide good value across his contract with a really strong base, but it's more a reluctance from the Brewers need for a longer contract than that.

I think I've maybe undersold it a little, and his market competition will do  the Brewers no favours in the value department, but given his lack of "sexiness" as a player and the shoulder surgery they may be able to swoop in for a shorter term deal

If that's possible, I'm 100% all-in on it.