Not long ago, the infielder Kim Ha Sung It looks like a strong bet to land a nine-figure deal in free agency. Last September, King finished the season with a .233/.330/.370 line and a league average wRC+ of 101. He combined strong defense at shortstop with 22 steals on the bases, which was actually his weakest of his final three seasons in the majors. Since the start of 2022, King is hitting .250/.336/.385 with 72 steals, a 17.9% strikeout rate and an 11.0% walk rate, accumulating 13.0 bWAR and 10.5 fWAR.
A player who started his age-29 season with three to five wins per season looked like a slam dunk for a big-money deal, but that was all shattered when he underwent shoulder surgery 364 days ago. He ultimately signed a deal with the Rays with $290,000 guaranteed that covered the 2025 and ’26 seasons, though it gave him the opportunity to opt out of the final year and $160,000 of the contract if he chose. Kim didn’t have a particularly strong year, appearing in just 48 games and hitting .234/.304/.345 in 191 plate appearances. The Rays were so concerned about the possibility of King receiving a salary in 2026 that they claimed him off waivers last month, at which point he was claimed by the Warriors.
On the face of it, that might give Kim the option of opting in and trying to bounce back next year. After all, it’s hard to argue that a 191 plate appearance sample size, in which he posted an 82 wRC+ with middling defensive grades, would significantly improve his stock in free agency. That being said, this may not be a complete foregone conclusion. In Atlanta, King certainly looked more like his old self, hitting .253/.316/.368 (91 wRC+) with a 16.3% strikeout rate, the strongest expected numbers of his career. His overall production is still below average, in part due to a BABIP of just .271, but after a strong showing with the Braves, it’s suddenly easier to see Kim return to being a slightly above-average bat.
Of course, that time in Atlanta only represented 98 games, which makes it difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions. The Braves themselves are clearly pleased with King’s progress, though, as president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has made no secret of his desire to retain the infielder next season. The market is relatively poor for players at the shortstop level Beau Bichetteit’s not hard to imagine other teams seeing the upside in Kim and being willing to spend significantly more than the $16MM guaranteed that Kim is opting out, even if that comes in the form of a short-term, opt-out-laden arrangement similar to the one he signed last winter.
There’s certainly a risk in opting out of a $16MM guaranteed payday after an injury-plagued season, and it’s completely understandable if King would prefer to stay with the Warriors and hope to recover enough in 2026 to earn himself a lucrative contract next winter. With that said, it must be taken into account that King is represented by Boras & Co., and agent Scott Boras is known for preferring his clients to test free agency when possible. However, this is not a hard and fast rule. Boras Customers Cody Bellinger and Gerrit Cole Both had the opportunity to test free agency last winter by opting out, but ultimately declined to do so, although Cole initially opted out and then mutually agreed with the Yankees to remain with the organization under the terms of his original contract.
How can MLBTR readers expect Kim to handle the choice he’s about to make? Will he test free agency and try to exploit weakness at shortstop, or is he more likely to stay with Atlanta on his current contract? Have your say in the poll below:
