The Atlanta Braves made the decision to claim shortstop Ha-Seong Kim off waivers during the final month of the regular season. In recent years, the shortstop position had become a weak spot for the team. Kim, however, took full advantage of his opportunity, quickly turning himself into an attractive name on the free-agent market. Kim also admitted that he enjoyed his time playing in Atlanta.
“It was great. I enjoyed it in Tampa Bay, but I think I had more fun and enjoyed playing baseball in Atlanta. I’m sorry I kept feeling unwell and in pain in Tampa Bay,” Kim said.
On Monday, Kim signed back with the Braves on a one-year deal.
“Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim is returning to the Atlanta Braves, agreeing Monday to a one-year, $20 million contract that addressed a major offseason priority for the team. Kim gets a $4 million raise. He had declined a $16 million player option that was in the two-year, $29 million contract he signed in February with Tampa Bay, a deal that paid him $13 million. The Braves announced the new deal with Kim on Monday night,” ESPN reported.
While other teams reportedly offered Kim longer contracts, his agent Scott Boras focused on maximizing short-term value — and Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos executed his strategy perfectly.
“Given that teams have largely avoided the lengthy nine figure deals aside from the absolute best free agents in recent years, Boras has pivoted somewhat to having his clients start taking short-term deals over and over again to get the total amount of money they wanted from the beginning. Pete Alonso had to do it with the Mets last offseason as did Alex Bregman. That Boras has both men as clients was not an accident,” HTHB’s Eric Cole wrote. “In this case, the Braves knew what they wanted and they knew how they could get it from the Boras client and the team is now in much better position for it.”
The Braves have done nearly everything right this winter. After missing the playoffs last season, Atlanta has positioned itself as a legitimate threat to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East.
Anthopoulos isn’t just playing his cards correctly with players — he’s also navigating one of the most difficult agents in baseball in Scott Boras. If the Kim experiment goes well during the first half of the season, an extension could very well be in play.
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