When Shohei Ohtani signed his then-record-breaking contract with the Dodgers in December 2023, it was immediately apparent that he was going to hold enormous sway with the front office.
Not only would he be making them an exorbitant amount of money with the sponsorships he’d bring in, but he’d also be able to help the front office recruit just by being himself.
This paid off for the Dodgers just a few weeks later, when they signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto to his 12-year deal.
This past offseason, Ohtani was instrumental in recruiting Roki Sasaki (Ohtani reportedly knew even before Andrew Friedman that Sasaki had decided to come to the Dodgers) and a lower-key signing in Hyeseong Kim.
Ohtani reportedly met personally with Kim during his free agency, and Kim ended up choosing the Dodgers over the Angels, despite a more lucrative offer from the latter.
When Kim’s signing was official, Ohtani welcomed him on Instagram (and in Korean!) and, after Kim’s major league debut on May 3 against the Angels, posted twice to herald his arrival.
It’s unclear exactly how long Kim will stay in the majors, but it’s pretty clear that Ohtani wants him there for the long haul.
Shohei Ohtani makes quiet Instagram bid for Dodgers to keep Hyeseong Kim in the majors after promotion
Kim came up as a replacement for Tommy Edman, who went onto the 10-day IL with a sprained ankle.
Dave Roberts said that, ideally, Edman would only be spending the minimum amount of time on the IL, at which point it would be safe to assume that the Dodgers would send Kim back down.
Kim’s debut came in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday as a second baseman as Michael Conforto went onto the bench and Chris Taylor went to left field.
The Dodgers were already enjoying a seven-run lead over the Braves, so Kim was never going to get an at-bat, and he didn’t see much action at second base.
The next day, he came in as a pinch-runner for Andy Pages in the top of the ninth, collected his first stolen base, and moved to third on a great hop after a ball got away from Drake Baldwin.
Through those two games, though, he has yet to get his first opportunity at the plate.
The Dodgers have players who are far more deserving of a demotion (or, in certain cases, release) than Kim when Edman comes back — he’d be the perfect utility bench replacement for Taylor — but it does seem likely that Kim will get the bump, even though Ohtani probably wouldn’t agree with the move.
