Baseball is global, and that means talent can be found anywhere. As each regular season ends in each prospective league, a new crop of players come in from overseas. The leading talent that most scouts will rave about this 2025 offseason is Kiwoom Heros second-baseman Hye-Seong Kim.
Kim, 25, was born in South Korea and received the Lee Young-min Batting Award given to the top-hitting high school player in the Republic of Korea. Debuting in the Korea Baseball Organization at 18 years old in 2017, Kim quickly blossomed into an everyday player with the Heroes. Scouts love his ability to play shortstop and second base at a Gold-Glove level and have noted his speed running around the bases. Throughout his career with the Heroes, he’s batting .304 with 37 home runs, 57 RBIs, and swiping 23 bags.
The 3x KBO Golden Glove Award winner has drawn the attention of several MLB scouts. Some teams that showed up to watch the rising star were the Mariners, Astros, D-Backs, Rangers, Royals, Mets, Angels, Dodgers, Reds, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Pirates and Phillies. One can imagine the pressure some of that may bring, but Kim has watched some of his former teammates succeed in the same position. Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, along with Giants outfielder Jung-hoo Lee, signed big contracts in the MLB once they were posted.
He is currently on pace for the best season of his professional career, playing in 87 games so far, batting .334 with 11 home runs, 57 RBIs, and 23 stolen bases. The Heroes are last in the KBO standings, so they will need to make up a lot of ground in the next few months. Hye-Seong Kim could be posted this offseason, and it will be fascinating to see how he finishes this year in Korea. Which team will take a chance at him this winter?
Photo Credit: Hye-Seong Kim #3 of Team Korea hits a double in the 3rd inning during the exhibition game between Team Korea and Los Angeles Dodgers at Gocheok Sky Dome on March 18, 2024 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
