Blue Jays have a secret weapon in their pursuit of Ha-seong Kim

Hyun Jin Ryu can help lure top Korean prospect Ha-seong Kim to Toronto

Ha-seong Kim, the infielder who became a star in the Korean Baseball Organization with his power and speed, is preparing to make a big jump up to the Major Leagues next season. So, naturally, he sought advice from a Korean legend who did it better than anyone else.

Kim recently reached out to Hyun Jin Ryu, pitching ace for the Toronto Blue Jays who went through the process of adjusting to life in a new league and country in 2013, and had a chance to sit down for dinner with him and talk about what life in the big leagues is like. According to ESPN’s KBO expert Daniel Kim, the dinner wasn’t organized by the Blue Jays but came at Kim’s own suggestion.

Kim was posted by his KBO team, the Kiwoom Heroes, on Monday. MLB clubs have until Jan. 1 to sign him to a deal, estimated by MLB Trade Rumors to be around four years and $40 million. The Blue Jays want to be his first choice, and what better way to get to Kim than through a player already in a Blue Jays uniform who is a hero back home in Korea.

Kim is just 25, young for a prospect coming from Korea, but has been playing professional baseball for seven seasons. Jung Ho Kang, another infielder who made the jump from the KBO to the Majors, was 27 when he signed; Cardinals pitcher Kwang Hyun Kim signed last offseason at the age of 31.

Kim hit 30 home runs with Kiwoom in 2020, driving in 109 with a .306 AVG. His .920 OPS was 11th in the KBO, while he finished in the top-10 in the league in both home runs and RBI. He has six straight seasons with an OPS above .830. He’s averaging 22 home runs, 99 RBI, a .297 batting average, and a .872 OPS over the last five seasons. Kim is also a threat as a runner, stealing 55 bases over the last two seasons.

His power and ability to hit for average have made him the top-ranked international prospect, according to Fangraphs. The KBO is not the Majors, though. But even if Kim isn’t able to replicate the numbers he put up in Korea, he still has the chance to develop into a solid MLB-caliber player. Fangraphs’ ZiPS projection tool predicts he’ll be a consistent 20-home run, 80-RBI, .270-hitter in the big leagues.

Ryu was also 25 when he first signed with the Dodgers in 2012. He knows what it’s like to adjust to life in America as a heralded international signing and meet those outsized expectations, finishing in the top three in Cy Young voting each of the last two years. He said on Korean television following the dinner that he’ll be “happy to play on a same team with Kim.” Even Blue Jays Assistant General Manager Joe Sheehan, speaking to reporters at the virtual winter meetings on Tuesday, recognized the advantage of having Ryu make the pitch to Kim.

Kim would be an ideal fit for the Blue Jays. He has the ability to play anywhere on the infield, appearing in 86 games at shortstop and 41 at third in 2020. If the Blue Jays don’t trade for Francisco Lindor, Kim could be the Blue Jays shortstop in 2020, allowing Bo Bichette to move to second and Cavan Biggio into the outfielder. Or he can also play third if a slimmed-down Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continues to struggle at that position.

The Rangers, Cubs, and Angels are some of the other clubs that have also expressed interest in signing Kim. But they don’t have what the Blue Jays have, a Korean icon with a direct line to Kim. Ryu decided to go to Toronto last offseason; now he’s in a position to persuade his countryman to do the same thing.