Last year, the Yankees were theoretically in the market for some sort of infielder. It became pretty clear early on that they were likely going to let Gleyber Torres go. That would open second base for them to move Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to his more natural position, while freeing up third base.
In the end, the Yankees didn’t make any offseason move. They went into the season with the combination of Oswaldo Cabrera, Oswald Peraza, and Pablo Reyes to play third, but Cabrera suffered a bad leg injury
and the other two didn’t do much. That led to the Yankees eventually making a mid-season trade for Ryan McMahon, although he wasn’t much of a slugger either.
One option that people threw out there last year when the Yankees were plausibly in the market was Ha-Seong Kim. A year later, and he’s a theoretical option again. While the Yankees opted not to sign Kim last year, should they this time around?
2025 Statistics: 48 games, 191 plate appearances, .234/.304/.345, 5 home runs, 17 RBI, 83 wRC+, -3 OAA, 0.3 fWAR
2026 FanGraphs Depth Chart Projections: 139 games, 602 plate appearances, .244/.332/.377, 14 home runs, 68 RBI, 100 wRC+, 2.4 fWAR
Kim first came over to MLB in 2021 and spent the first four seasons of his US career with the Padres. While he was never going to be mistaken for one of the best hitters in the league, at his best (2022-23), he was an above average bat and a good fielder at a couple different infield positions. Across those two seasons, he put up 7.8 fWAR and an impressive 10.4 rWAR. In 2023 in particular he received some down ballot MVP votes and won the NL Gold Glove for utility players.
In 2024, Kim regressed from that a bit, although still put up 2.6 fWAR just ahead of hitting the free agent market. The slight dip in his walk year, along with the fact that he underwent an offseason surgery that kept him out of the start of the season, probably harmed his market somewhat, and Kim ended up only signing a two-year deal with the Rays for $29 million, with an opt-out clause after the first year.
While there was hope at points that Kim would be back by sometime in May, recovery from the surgery ended up keeping him out until July. When he finally did play for the Rays, he didn’t hit very well, and eventually returned to the IL with a back issue. Tampa Bay eventually placed him on waivers and he was picked up by the Braves in September. Kim was a better hitter after moving to Atlanta, but was still below average, with a 91 wRC+. He also graded out as a below par defender for the first time in his career, although he did have to play shortstop for the vast majority of the season, whereas he’s always been better statistically at second and third. If you add in that the injuries probably affected him a bit both playing time-wise and ability-wise, he probably would’ve been better than the 0.3 fWAR he accumulated.
That being said, even if Kim is still a good player, the question becomes where would you fit him on the current roster. He might be a better hitter than McMahon and José Caballero — the current starters at third base and shortstop — as well as Anthony Volpe, who will return from injury at some point next year. However, the question remains if the Yankees would actually splash the cash on him considering his potential positions are already currently filled. He also turned down $16 million by opting out after the first year of his deal. MLB Trade Rumors projects him to get slightly less on that AAV but more total money by signing for two-year and $30 million. Just in terms of would I like this player on the team as a potential option, I would, but for that much for maybe only a slight upgrade hitting-wise, color me skeptical on whether the Yankees would or should do that.
