Properly, the Braves should have preferred what they noticed. After Atlanta claimed Ha-Seong Kim off waivers in September and watched him decline his $16 million possibility for the 2026 season, the workforce is bringing him again on a one-year, $20 million contract. In a uncommon coup, Jon Heyman scooped the Braves by breaking the information earlier than they may slap some textual content onto their trusty press launch template and submit a JPEG to social media. (Peter Labuza of Twins Every day made observe of a very powerful a part of the deal: The press launch featured no point out of Kim donating 1% of his wage to the Atlanta Braves Basis.) The reunion isn’t essentially stunning, as president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos expressed curiosity in bringing Kim again when he opted out. Nevertheless, the deal represents a departure from Atlanta’s latest technique, and doesn’t match many of the estimates of what Kim would get in free company.
That is the primary time the Braves have deigned to spend cash on the shortstop place since they let Dansby Swanson stroll in 2022. They rolled with Orlando Arcia in 2023, and he rewarded them with a 100 wRC+ and a pair of.4 WAR. When Arcia reverted again to his profession norms with a 72 wRC+ in 2023, the Braves bought simply 0.7 WAR from the place, fifth worst within the league. The punchless, slick-fielding Nick Allen didn’t work out in 2025, prompting the workforce to assert Kim; on the 12 months, Atlanta’s 0.4 WAR at quick was third from the underside. They just lately traded Allen to Houston in alternate for utilityman Mauricio Dubón, who has surprisingly good numbers at quick however isn’t actually an on a regular basis possibility. The Braves are clearly sick of getting a gaping black gap at quick, however you may not be ready for simply how large a departure that is. Swanson made simply $10 million in his remaining 12 months of arbitration, which means the Braves are about to spend double the quantity they’ve ever spent on a shortstop.
Coming into the offseason, most estimates had Kim signing a deal just like the one he signed with the Rays final 12 months: two or three years with an opt-out for one thing like $15 million per 12 months. That made sense, as a result of he was nonetheless in the same place. After an excellent seven-year KBO profession, Kim struggled in his first stateside marketing campaign, then settled in as a reliably above-average center infielder for the Padres. From 2022 to 2024, he mixed nice protection with a 106 wRC+, averaging 3.7 WAR per 150 video games. That’s a borderline All-Star at a premium place. In 2023, Kim received a Gold Glove and earned some MVP votes. He regarded primed for a payday and an extended contract heading into free company. As a substitute, he tore the labrum in his proper shoulder diving again into first base in opposition to the Rockies in August 2024.
The damage ended his season early and led to that pillow take care of the Rays. The surgical procedure, adopted by hamstring and calf accidents, saved him out till July, and after again points price him two extra IL stints, Kim discovered himself in Atlanta. He bought into simply 48 video games in 2025 and really understandably didn’t look fairly like himself. He clearly believed that he may get greater than $16 million on the open market, even on a prove-it deal, and that transfer paid off. Though the deal is only for one 12 months, Anthopoulos has continued to be direct about his want to lock Kim up, telling reporters, “Our objective is for him to have an amazing 12 months and we preserve him long-term past this.”
Kim is 30 years outdated and coming off a misplaced season. The large query is whether or not we should always anticipate him to appear to be he did from 2022 to 2024. The strongest indicator that we should always is that the Braves noticed him up shut for the final month of the season, and though each his offense and protection graded out as under common in Atlanta, they clearly preferred what they noticed. The numbers can inform us a bit extra.
As with every shoulder damage, the priority is a participant getting their power again. The excellent news is that Kim actually regarded sturdy sufficient on the plate. He matched his max exit velocity from 2023 and 2024, and his common and Ninetieth-percentile exit velocities have been the very best of his profession. We’re speaking about simply 191 plate appearances and 134 batted ball occasions, nevertheless it doesn’t take all that many to show that you just’re able to hitting the ball as exhausting as you used to. Kim’s offensive numbers weren’t nice, each as a result of not all of that tough contact became slug and since he ran his worst stroll and strikeout numbers since 2021. Nonetheless, it’s exhausting to fault him for that in such a brief, injury-marred season, particularly when the underlying metrics regarded high-quality. His chase fee took a dip, nevertheless it was not at all exterior his profession norms, and his zone contact fee was one of the best of his profession. As I famous again when the Braves claimed him, he additionally noticed a spike in pitches on the sting of the strike zone, the sort of fluky factor that may wreak havoc in your numbers over a short while interval. Kim ran a wRC+ of simply 82, however he had put up 48-game stretches with worse efficiency in all 4 of his earlier MLB seasons. It occurs.
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The larger query is how the surgical procedure will have an effect on Kim’s arm power going ahead. In 2024, it averaged 88 mph from quick, which ranked twelfth out of 66 certified shortstops. In 2025, that quantity was all the way down to 83.9 mph, a drop of greater than 4 ticks. Maybe much more vital, Kim’s hardest throw was simply 87.1 mph, almost 5 mph off his finest mark in 2024. Nevertheless, it’s vital to maintain a number of issues in thoughts. First, that large drop is horrifying, nevertheless it nonetheless leaves Kim with an above-average arm for the place, twenty second out of 65 certified shortstops. Second, we’re not speaking a couple of ton of possibilities right here. Statcast had Kim with simply 164 throws from shortstop in 2025, fewer than half as many as he had in 2024. Most infield chances are high routine, which implies he simply didn’t have that many causes to unleash his hardest throws. In earlier seasons, Kim all the time had a distinction of not less than 4 mph between his common throw and his max. In 2024, the hole was nearer to a few ticks, an indicator that he may not have been letting the ball unfastened with as a lot abandon as he had beforehand. That’s comprehensible, nevertheless it would possibly change because the surgical procedure will get smaller within the rearview mirror.
Third, Kim’s arm didn’t harm his efficiency, in keeping with both Statcast or Baseball Prospectus’ Throwing Runs. The truth is, Kim’s arm has put up a impartial run worth each season of his profession in keeping with each metrics. He’s all the time made his defensive influence along with his vary. That influence was optimistic in each season till 2025, and it’s exhausting to knock him an excessive amount of for grading out as barely under common whereas he was recovering from surgical procedure and coping with hamstring, calf, and again accidents.
In order that’s the place we’re. Accidents utterly derailed Kim’s 2025 season, nevertheless it was exhausting to see any particular causes to downgrade his future efficiency, with the attainable exception of his arm power. Furthermore, he was the second-best shortstop (and, relying on what you consider Bo Bichette defensively, one of the best true shortstop) on the free agent market.
Nonetheless, none of that is assured. The Braves have been solely on the hook for roughly $2 million of Kim’s wage in 2025, however they’ll be paying him 10 occasions as a lot in 2026. Dangers lurk round each nook. We received’t know whether or not Kim’s arm will get again to full power till we see it occur. He simply turned 30, and he’s coming off accidents to 4 completely different physique elements in 2025. It’s under no circumstances exhausting to think about not less than considered one of them resurfacing. Ought to they price him a significant period of time or hamper his efficiency, it may actually harm the Braves and it may as soon as once more actually harm Kim’s probabilities of getting an excellent, long-term deal. And whereas there’s each motive to imagine that his bat is again to the place it was, that earlier place was all the time proper across the league common. Even totally wholesome, down years on the plate occur, and Kim isn’t ranging from all that prime a spot. The Braves know all that higher than anybody, and so they’re nonetheless ready to guess $20 million that Kim remains to be the participant he was.