Worst Free Agent Signing In Braves History: Ha Seong Kim Is Making His Case

There weren’t too many groans when the Braves decided to ink Ha-Seong Kim to a one-year, $20 million deal to return for the 2026 season. Shortstop has long been a problem area in Atlanta since Dansby Swanson left for Chicago, and Kim looked the part of an upgrade in his short stint with the team, showing some real promise both with the glove and the stick.

The decision, however, has quickly turned into a disasterclass. Kim missed the first six weeks of the season after a freak incident in his home country of Korea, where he slipped on ice and it resulted in a torn tendon in his finger.

Even more discouraging, Kim’s return to the lineup has actually been worse than when he wasn’t playing at all. He’s appeared in 26 games for the Braves this season and has just five hits in 73 at-bats. That’s a .068 batting average and .239 OPS. It’ll be July in a couple of days, and Kim has not contributed a single extra-base hit.

It’s not as if things are getting better, either. Kim is hitless in his last 27 at-bats, and his WAR for the season is down to -0.9. Considering how little he’s really played, that’s a remarkable figure, putting him on pace for a -6.0 WAR campaign over 162 games.

With each passing day, it’s becoming more and more likely Kim doesn’t even make it through the entire season. When Acuña returns, Dubon will slide back into the role of everyday shortstop. At that point, a decision will likely be made between Kim and Jorge Mateo — which, judging by what we’ve seen, shouldn’t be much of a decision at all.

When talking about one-year deals, it’s hard to make an argument that any of them could possibly be the worst contract handed out in franchise history, but Kim’s performance is certainly making a strong case against that line of thinking. He has straight up robbed the Atlanta Braves, and when combined with the Jurickson Profar ordeal, Alex Anthopoulos should probably reconsider any future deals with former members of the San Diego Padres.

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(Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)