By definition, any move that the Rays make should feel like a Rays move. You know, because they’re literally the Rays. Still, sometimes Tampa Bay does something that, well, really feels like a Rays move. Signing Ha-Seong Kim to a two-year, $29 million deal — as reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan — falls into this bucket.
I don’t mean to generalize to the point of non-analysis, but Kim simply strikes me as a classic Rays target. The 29-year-old is a swiss army knife in the infield, having played major innings at shortstop, third base and second base in his time in San Diego. He also played all three at an above-average level in terms of defense. Though, as Passan notes, Kim is expected to be Tampa’s full-time shortstop, where he’ll usurp Taylor Walls, who is equally gifted with the glove, but has not shown much of an ability to hit at the MLB level.
That’s where Kim is different. The KBO import struggled in his rookie campaign, as is to be expected, but since 2022, Kim’s been a solid bat and incredibly valuable on the base paths. In fact, across the past three seasons, Kim is slashing .250/.336/.385 with 39 home runs, 72 stolen bases and a 10.5 fWAR that is slightly ahead of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (10.1) and slightly behind Carlos Correa (10.7). He’s valuable and cost-effective. Again, he’s a perfect Rays player.
