Padres $36 Million Gold Glover, Fan-Favorite Linked To Royals By MLB Insider
The Kansas City Royals are at a crossroads this winter.
Following an impressive one-year turnaround from last place to the playoffs, the Royals have a chance to keep blazing a trail forward. But if they don't make some necessary upgrades, especially to their lineup, Kansas City could also get left in the dust amid an arms race in the American League.
Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. is one of the five best players in the world, but the Royals did unforgivably little to support him in 2024. The biggest hole in their lineup was the leadoff spot, which left Witt batting with the bases empty more than any other two-hitter in Major League Baseball.
Anne Rogers, the Royals beat reporter for MLB.com, has an outside-the-box solution to the Royals' leadoff problem: signing another shortstop who also happens to be recovering from a serious injury.
Ha-Seong Kim, who has been a stalwart infielder for the San Diego Padres the last four years, is hitting free agency after undergoing season-ending right labrum surgery. Rogers suggested that the Royals could sign Kim to be their new leadoff hitter and take over either second or third base.
"He won't be available right away because of shoulder surgery, but Kim is one of the most underrated infielders on the market this winter," Rogers said.
"The Royals already have a pretty good shortstop, but Kim could play second or third. The 29-year-old hit .233 with a .330 OBP before surgery this year and posted a 12.3% walk rate and 16.4% strikeout rate, the best numbers of his MLB career."
Kim, 29, is a fantastic defender at all three infield spots, winning the Gold Glove for utility players in the National League in 2023. The bigger question is his availability for the start of the season, and whether the Royals see fit to offer him a lucrative multi-year deal given the injury question.
Recently, Tim Britton of The Athletic projected that Kim would get a two-year, $36 million deal this winter. It's good value for most teams to attain such a versatile defender, but the Royals have to consider whether Kim's offensive profile fits what they need well enough to justify the cost.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org