The Baltimore Orioles agreed to a deal with star South Korean left fielder Hyun-soo Kim on Wednesday, pending a physical, according to the Baltimore Sun‘s Dan Connolly.
Per Connolly, Kim’s contract with the Orioles is a two-year deal worth $7 million, and the money is evenly distributed with $3.5 million in salary for each season.
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports confirmed the deal and implied Baltimore got strong value out of it:
Kim is a three-time Gold Glove Award winner and a .318 career hitter in the Korea Baseball Organization League as a member of the Doosan Bears. The 27-year-old has been with the club since 2006 but is heading stateside to boost Baltimore’s outfield.
In addition to his evident defensive prowess in the outfield, the blend of plate discipline and power Kim exuded during his time in the KBO was remarkable.
He batted .326 this past season with career-best totals in home runs (28) and RBI (121) while striking out only 63 times and drawing 101 walks. If Kim merely manages to imitate that sort of production with the Orioles, he’ll be viewed as quite the offseason steal.
Outfielder Gerardo Parra is a free agent, so there ought to be a spot for Kim to fill in and start right away. Kim’s bat will be especially useful if Baltimore can’t persuade slugger first baseman Chris Davis to stick around.
After failing to meet expectations this past season and missing the playoffs, pressure is on for the Orioles to perform well in 2016.
There will be plenty of hype following Kim around, but he appears equipped to handle it. Based on his steady production, the strong season he’s coming off of and a solid all-around game, all indications are Kim has the goods to make an instant MLB impact.
Note: Stats and background information on Kim courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
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