Amid another massive offseason spending spree, one of the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ more unheralded signings was 26-year-old utilityman Hyeseong Kim.

The defending World Series champions added Kim via a three-year, $12.5 million deal in early January with a two-year club option for 2028 and 2029.

The South Korean was a three-time Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) Golden Glove Award winner and set career highs in home runs (11) and RBI (75) while slashing .326/.383/.458 across 127 games with the Kiwoom Heroes in 2024. With plenty of competition for playing time on a loaded Dodgers roster, however, manager Dave Roberts and general manager Brandon Gomes have said that Kim could begin the 2025 campaign in the minor leagues.

“Dave Roberts left open the possibility of Hyeseong Kim starting the season in the minors, as he continues to make swing adjustments coming over from Korea,” Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times posted on social media on Tuesday. “GM Brandon Gomes has also been non-committal about where Kim will begin the season.”

With Three Weeks Left Until Season-Opener, Kim Still Has Time

Harris added in his note that with “a lot of time left in camp before any final decisions are made,” Kim still has a chance to make the Dodgers roster coming out of Spring Training.

Los Angeles will kick off the MLB regular season ahead of 28 other teams, as the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs play a two-game series in Tokyo from March 18-19.

Kim has gone just 1-for-6 with two walks and two strikeouts in three Spring Training games (eight plate appearances) entering Tuesday.

He showcased his above-average speed that led him to 211 steals in the KBO from 2018-2024 by legging out an infield single against the San Diego Padres on Sunday.

Dodgers Projected Lineup and Where Kim Could Potentially Fit in

At the time of Kim’s signing, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported that Los Angeles had said over the offseason that they were “going with the plan” of having former AL MVP Mookie Betts as their starting shortstop in 2025 and 27-year-old former first-round pick Gavin Lux continue as the primary second baseman.

Lux was traded to the Cincinnati Reds less than one week after Kim joined the Dodgers, however.

When the Kim news broke, Ardaya added that “the plan with Kim, a source said, is for him to fill a super utility role. Has played a lot up the middle in KBO.”

With former NLCS MVPs Chris Taylor and Tommy Edman (as well as Enrique Hernandez who was re-signed in February) all in the mix and able to play infield and outfield, however, Kim’s future in the bigs appears a bit cloudier now.

For what it’s worth, both FanGraphs and RotoChamp still project the former KBO defensive stud to be the Dodgers starting second baseman on Opening Day, with Edman in centerfield and Hernandez and Taylor coming off the bench.

One of the key roster decisions for Roberts and company could be what to do with 24-year-old centerfielder Andy Pages.

The second-year pro has gone just 1-for-8 with four strikeouts in Spring Training thus far but showed promise with 13 home runs and 46 RBI across 116 games (403 at-bats) during his 2024 rookie season.

If Los Angeles decides to keep Pages (or another hitter or pitcher) in the majors to start the campaign, Kim would likely get more playing time as a starter in Triple-A.

Here’s the rest of what the Dodgers starting lineup could look like for their season-opener against the Cubs.

Projected starting lineup:

– DH Shohei Ohtani
– SS Mookie Betts
– 1B Freddie Freeman
– RF Teoscar Hernandez
– C Will Smith
– 3B Max Muncy
– LF Michael Conforto
– CF Tommy Edman
– 2B Chris Taylor/Enrique Hernandez/Hyeseong Kim