KBO asks MLB to post star infielder Kim Hye-seong

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced Wednesday it has asked Major League Baseball (MLB) to post South Korean star infielder Kim Hye-seong and make him available for 30 big league clubs.

Kim’s club, the Kiwoom Heroes, said at 11:50 a.m. Wednesday it would ask the KBO to post Kim, and the league office announced at noon it had asked MLB to post him.

In a report posted early Wednesday morning Korean Standard Time (KST), MLB.com said the Heroes were soon expected to post Kim around noon Eastern Time (ET) on Wednesday.

Kim traveled to Los Angeles last Friday to begin training at a facility prepared by his U.S. agency, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), while waiting for the posting process to begin.

Under an agreement between the two leagues, once a KBO player is posted, any of the 30 MLB clubs can negotiate a deal with that player within a 30-day window.

The negotiating period begins at 8 a.m. ET the morning after MLB notifies its 30 clubs and ends at 5 p.m. ET on the 30th day.

According to the Heroes, that period will begin at 8 a.m. ET on Thursday, or 10 p.m. KST on Thursday. It will end at 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 3, or 7 a.m. KST on Jan. 4.

If Kim can’t land his contract during this period, he won’t be allowed to be posted again until Nov. 1, 2025.

Kim, 25, stated his major league dreams late last year and the Heroes announced in January that they would post him after the 2024 KBO season.

Kim responded by enjoying his best offensive season in 2024, posting career highs of 11 home runs, 75 RBIs and a .458 slugging percentage. Kim batted .326 for his fourth consecutive .300 season and swiped 30 bags, his seventh consecutive year with at least 20 steals.

Kim, who made his KBO debut in 2017 and became an everyday player in 2018, has a career line of .306/.364/.403 with 211 steals. No KBO player has stolen more bags since 2018 than Kim.

Kim continued to play strong defense at second base in 2024, and received his second straight KBO Fielding Award last week.

KBO teams receive a “release fee” if they lose a player to MLB through posting, and the amount will depend on the guaranteed portion of the player’s contract.

The release fee is 20 percent of the first US$25 million and 17.5 percent of the amount exceeding the next $25 million. If a player signs for over $50 million, then his former KBO team will receive 20 percent of the first $25 million ($5 million) and 17.5 percent of the next $25 million ($4,375,000), plus 15 percent of the amount exceeding $50 million.

The Heroes previously sent four players to MLB via posting: former Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Kang Jung-ho, former Minnesota Twins infielder Park Byung-ho, free agent infielder Kim Ha-seong, who played for the San Diego Padres from 2021 to 2024, and San Francisco Giants outfielder Lee Jung-hoo.