Toronto Blue Jays: Did they make an offer to Ha-Seong Kim?

Are the Toronto Blue Jays one of the rumoured teams to have officially made a multi-year offer to Korean infielder Ha-seong Kim?

According to ESPN KBO Insider Daniel Kim, there are several MLB teams with offers on the table to Ha-Seong Kim including deals in the 5+ year range for the 25-year old Korean superstar. The Blue Jays have been linked to Kim all offseason, however, is he their first choice for an infield upgrade?

My Jays Journal partner in crime Chris Henderson touched on the topic earlier this week that the Jays may be forced into a decision sooner than they would prefer due to the January 01st posting deadline. The free agent market has developed at a snails pace and DJ LeMahieu still remains unsigned who the brain trust presumably prefer over Kim.

However, the executive can’t put all their eggs all in one basket so it is probably safe to assume the Blue Jays are one of the teams who have tabled an offer for the services of Kim.

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Kim is a shortstop by trade but he also has some hot corner time under his belt with the Kiwoom Heroes and the Nexen Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization. In 891 KOB games, Kim has saddled up at third base on 106 times.

If I am a betting man, I would suspect that the Blue Jays would not move Bo Bichette from shortstop in favour of Kim. Personally, Bichette only swaps positions if they acquire Francisco Lindor and lock him up long-term, otherwise he is my shortstop for the next decade.

Kim met with Toronto pitcher Hyun Jin Ryu earlier this offseason to pick the MLB veterans brain on all things baseball. I am curious to know just how much of an affect the “Ryu Factor” could have on the negotiations and Kim’s decision to sign north of the border.

In case your wondering, Kim sports a career .294/.373/.493 slash line with 133 homers, 575 runs batted in and134 stolen bases in 891 games in the KBO. In 2019, he walloped a career-high 30 round trippers while batting .306 with 23 stolen bases in 25 attempts.

To put his numbers into perspective, former MLB’er Addison Russell hit .254 with five home runs in 65 games. So there is no questioning, this kid can play.

What are your thoughts, do the Jays land the Korean infielder?