Ha-Seong Kim cost the Atlanta Braves $20 million for a season where he hit .116. That is the shocking reality of a deal meant to fix the shortstop spot. The team paid a premium for a player who spent most of the year on the injured list. He played just 51 games yet still managed to post a negative win value. This is the most expensive flop in recent Braves history.
Per Battery Power, the club signed Kim to a one-year, $20 million deal in mid-December. They wanted a league-average bat to shore up a position that had been weak for years. The hope was to bridge the gap to Tate Southisene, the future shortstop. But the results did not match the price tag or the expectation. Kim arrived after a small taste of success in 2025, where he played 24 games and hit .253. The team thought he was trending upward. The full season proved that trend was a mirage.
A Record-Breaking Bad Year
The numbers from 2026 are hard to believe for a player with his pedigree. Kim finished with a slash line of .116/.219/.140. That means he got a hit in just 11.6 percent of his plate appearances. His weighted runs created plus (wRC+) was a single-digit 7. This metric shows he was 93 percent worse than a league-average hitter. Per Battery Power, his negative fWAR was -1.2. He cost the team more wins than he provided.
Defense was not the saving grace either. Statcast-based value showed he was three runs below average. This happened despite him playing less than a third of the season. The projections had him as a solid, average player. ZiPS saw a 2.1 WAR over two-thirds of a campaign. Steamer saw a 1.4 WAR. Both systems were wrong. The reality was a player who could not make contact and could not field.
One Moment of Magic
There was one moment that saved the season from being a total wash. On August 3, Kim returned to action from the injured list. He stayed with the big club for the rest of the year. He even made a couple of starts in the postseason. The highlight came in a series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He hit a walk-off single to win a game. The article from Battery Power asks if a walk-off single can be worth $20 million against a two-time World Series champion. It is a tough question.
That single play did not fix the underlying issues. The rest of the season was a struggle. He declined a $16 million player option from the previous year to test free agency. The Braves took a chance on him in a low-risk waiver claim first. They thought the risk was low. The final cost was high. The team paid $20 million for a player who was barely on the field.
The failure of Kim’s contract shifts the focus to the farm system. The Braves need a new shortstop for the future. Tate Southisene is the top candidate to take over the role. Per MLB.com Braves, Southisene has been on the radar since being taken in the 2025 draft. He posted an .875 OPS in his first full professional season. His rise was stopped by a fractured wrist in Double-A. Last week, he started playing again after recovering in the Arizona Fall League. He doubled and stole two bases in his first three games there.
The team cannot rely on expensive veterans who fail to perform. They need to trust the young talent coming up. Southisene has played both middle infield positions. His best value might be at second base. But his athleticism allows him to play shortstop. The $20 million mistake with Kim makes the path for Southisene clearer.
