Rich get even richer as Dodgers land second baseman tied to SF Giants

There was not a ton of buzz surrounding South Korean free agent second baseman Hyeseong Kim ahead of the deadline to sign him during his posting period. However, at the 11th hour the Los Angeles Dodgers swooped in and signed him.

Kim was not heavily connected to the SF Giants, but a reporter mentioned them as a possible match for Kim on social media before Kim ultimately signed with the Dodgers.

Dodgers sign Hyeseong Kim who SF Giants were connected to

Of course, who knows how accurate that report was. That is not to cast aspersions on that reporter, it just shows that maybe those sources were not the most trustworthy because the Dodgers were not even mentioned among the teams connected to Kim and he ended up going there. It should just be mandatory for every reporter to say that the Dodgers are connected to a free agent at this point.

While Kim is not a premier free agent, he seems like a nifty and useful player based on his statistics in Korea. In eight seasons, he has a career slash line of .304/.364/.403 with 37 home runs and 386 RBI. He also has 211 steals in his career and is a four-time Gold Glove winner at second base in the KBO.

Now, you may be thinking a contact-first hitter with speed and above-average defense would have made a lot of sense on the Giants. It is hard to argue against that. Kim has a somewhat similar profile to another former KBO player, Jung Hoo Lee, and it is never a bad thing to add a high-contact hitter to a lineup that struggled with striking out last season.

The Dodgers did not break the bank to sign Kim as the three-year contract is worth $12.5 million. Even if the Giants are trying to tighten the belt this offseason, that seems like a contract they could have afforded.

Perhaps the front office feels that they already have a solid second baseman in Tyler Fitzgerald who has more power potential at the plate than Kim does and has proven that he can succeed at the big league level.

No matter what, it is still a bit discouraging to see the Dodgers land yet another free agent. Who knows how interested the Giants were in Kim, but it will be extra annoying if he becomes a thorn in San Francisco's side the next yew years.