Here’s what Hye Sung Kim’s potential contract for Seattle Marine could look like

On Monday, MLSTradeRumors released its annual list of the top 50 free agents in baseball this season. Juan Soto tops the list as he is having an incredible season with the New York Yankees. He also hit the market at just 26 years old, which is extremely rare in the modern game.

Sitting at number 26 on this list? Infielder Hye-Seong Kim, who is about to be sent out of the KBO. The MLBTR team currently consists of four individuals, and two of them predicted that Kim would sign with the Seattle Mariners. Two others predicted he would sign with the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Angels, respectively. The rumors are good, and Kim has been linked to the Mariners for a long time, but what we’re most interested in right now is the contract outlook.

MLSTradeRumors tends to be accurate with their arbitration metrics, so it’s safe to expect contract projections to be about the same, especially for the top free agents.

Forecast for Kim? Three years and 24 million dollars.

Of course, this is a number that the M’s can afford, and if that is indeed the case, then Kim is a player they should be interested in. The M’s don’t appear to be major players in the free agent market this offseason, so a player only making $8 million per year should be in their price range. Moreover, Kim has the potential to become an impact player in Seattle.

He’s only 25 years old and has a contact and speed profile that M’s players can use effectively. After leading the league in strikeouts for most of the 2024 season, the M’s need to do a better job with simple input ball into play. He is also called an excellent defender.

He’s just 25 years old (26 in January) and coming off a successful season in which he hit .326/.383/.458 with career-bests in home runs (11) and strikeout percentage (10.9%).

Kim must be published before Sailors might have some fun signing him, but even with the fee involved, he’s a guy the team should seriously consider. Second base has been a black hole for the franchise since the Robinson Cano trade in 2018.

Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and following Teren Kovacs and Brady Farkas on “X” @Teren_Kovac And @wdevradiobrady. You can subscribe to the Stop Losing podcast by clicking HERE: