SAN FRANCISCO -- As he looked out at his team on the first day of spring training last February, Giants manager Bob Melvin noted that someone was missing. It wasn't hard to figure out who he was talking about.
Melvin wanted Matt Chapman in the heart of his lineup, and within a few days of that first workout, the third baseman was wearing orange and black and once again playing for his former Athletics manager. The Chapman addition was telegraphed all offseason and ended up being one of the best moves Farhan Zaidi made. Chapman was so productive on both sides of the ball that the Giants signed him to a long-term extension in September.
Buster Posey now is the man in charge, but this offseason is setting up in a similar way. There are some big-name potential targets -- last year it was Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and this year it's Juan Soto and Blake Snell -- but there also is a very obvious pursuit.
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Like Chapman, Ha-Seong Kim is a favorite of Melvin, but his strongest connection to the Giants is not to the manager. Kim is close with center fielder Jung Hoo Lee, a former KBO teammate who said during the season's final week that he was "excited" by the idea of once again playing with Kim.
"If Ha-Seong does come over to this clubhouse and we become locker mates again, it's going to be a big joy for me, and also for Ha-Seong," Lee said through interpreter Justin Han.
The two were teammates with the Kiwoom Heroes in 2019-20, a productive partnership that was broken up when Kim signed a deal with the San Diego Padres. While the initial transition was a little tough, Kim flourished when Melvin made him an everyday player in 2022. Over the next two seasons he was worth 7.8 Wins Above Replacement, per FanGraphs, and in 2023 he won a Gold Glove Award as a utility player.
Kim is similar to Chapman in that he adds value with an all-around game. He stole 38 bases in 2023 and had 22 in 27 attempts this past season before being sidelined by a shoulder injury. While his glove is his calling card, he has 47 homers in four big league seasons and has rated a tick above league-average by wRC+.
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The other top shortstop option this winter, Willy Adames, would bring a lot more with the bat but also would cost significantly more and might need to move off the position at some point. Adames is expected to get a deal that surpasses Chapman's $150 million guarantee, while Kim might be available on a short-term deal initially. The reason for that is where the concern comes in.
Kim hurt his right shoulder while diving on Aug. 18 and had season-ending surgery just before the postseason. At the GM Meetings earlier this month, his agent, Scott Boras, told the San Francisco Chronicle that Kim is targeting an April or May return.
"His medical is established," Boras said. "He knows that all the teams are aware about his return-to-play dates, which is going to be, if not the start, then very early in the season."
Boras also represents Chapman and Lee, who had season-ending surgery to repair his labrum after crashing into the center field wall at Oracle Park. Unlike Kim, Lee is a lock for opening day since his injury happened so much earlier in the year.
It's unclear what kind of contract Boras and Kim will seek given the uncertainty with his throwing arm, but if it's a short-term deal that will get the 29-year-old back to free agency in his prime, the Giants already have a template. They did the same thing with Michael Conforto, another Boras client coming off a shoulder injury, although they certainly would be hoping for better results this time around.
The safer play would simply be to outbid the field for Adames, who also is 29 and is coming off a 32-homer season. But if the Giants are, in fact, limited financially, Kim could emerge as a better target, someone who would allow them to not only upgrade at shortstop but also fill holes elsewhere.
The decision won't be made because of friendships, but it certainly won't hurt. Lee didn't travel with the team after getting hurt, but he visited Petco Park in September and spent time with Kim before games. When the Giants hosted the Padres late in the year, the two were seen leaving the ballpark together. Chapman is expected to be a recruiter this offseason, but when it comes to Kim, it's another Giant who can take the lead.
Last offseason, the situation was reversed, with Melvin asking Kim for his thoughts on Lee, who signed a six-year deal with the Giants last December. At the start of his first season, Lee talked about what playing against Kim could mean to others from South Korea.
"Ha-Seong and myself, we would like to try to make a good environment for players that would come from the KBO to play in the Major Leagues in the future," he said in March. "We talk about that a lot."
At the time, the two were playing against each other, but that might change this offseason.