After a season in which the Los Angeles Dodgers fell well short of their goal by being eliminated in the National League Division Series, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman spoke optimistically about the franchise’s outlook.
He noted talent already on the roster, financial flexibility and wealth of Minor League prospects that would allow for the Dodgers to be a factor in the trade market. Thus far into the offseason the team has been linked to free agents Gerrit Cole, Josh Donaldson and Hyun-Jin Ryu, and a potential trade for Francisco Lindor.
L.A. figures to address their starting rotation in some capacity, as along with Ryu, Rich Hill also is no longer under contract.
In light of the SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization posting Kwang-hyun Kim, the Dodgers are said to be among the teams with interest in the left-hander, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic:
Left-hander Kwang-Hyun Kim, who was posted Friday by his Korean team, SK Wyverns, is drawing early interest from the Mets, Royals, Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Cubs, sources say.
Kim was previously posted in 2014, when the San Diego Padres won the bidding at $2 million. However, the two sides were unable to come to terms on a contract and Kim remained in the KBO.
Under the current agreement between MLB and the KBO, Kim is free to negotiate with all 30 clubs. The fee the Wyverns would receive if Kim were to sign with an MLB team hinges on the value of his contract.
The 30-year-old went 17-6 with a 2.51 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and averaged 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings over 31 games (30 starts) this past season. It marked his second full year since missing all of 2017 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The operation doesn’t appear to have had a negative impact on the southpaw, who is a combined 28-14 and sported a sub-3.00 ERA in each of the past two seasons. Kim debuted in the KBO at 18 years old in 2007.
The Dodgers of course have a history of tapping into the international market. Hyun-Jin Ryu and Kenta Maeda are recent examples of pitchers who made the jump from the KBO to MLB and found success with the Dodgers.
L.A. reportedly was heavily involved in the pursuit of Shohei Ohtani, though he of course wound up signing with the Angels.
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