The Braves are bringing back Ha-Seong Kim on a $20MM contract, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. It’s a one-year deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Kim had declined a $16MM player option and earns a $4MM raise to return as Atlanta’s starting shortstop.
Kim spent the final month of the 2025 season with the Braves. They claimed him off waivers from the Rays, who were happy to get out from under the $16MM player option. Atlanta was long since buried in the playoff picture. The move was solely about building a relationship with Kim in the hope that he’d return next year. They hoped it’d be on the player option but felt that a few weeks within the clubhouse might give them an edge in re-signing him even if he opted out.
The righty-hitting Kim made a solid impression on his new club. He reeled off a 10-game hitting streak in the middle of September and recorded at least one knock in 15 of his first 19 contests. Kim finished in a 1-19 skid over his final five games, dropping him to a middling .253/.316/.368 line in 98 plate appearances in an Atlanta uniform. That was still quite a bit better than the .214/.290/.321 mark he’d put up in a similar amount of playing time over an injury-riddled few months in Tampa Bay.
More to come.