{"id":125649,"date":"2025-09-01T20:44:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T20:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/125649\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T20:44:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T20:44:08","slug":"braves-claim-infielder-ha-seong-kim-off-waivers-from-rays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/125649\/","title":{"rendered":"Braves claim infielder Ha-Seong Kim off waivers from Rays"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Alden GonzalezSep 1, 2025, 02:55 PM ET<\/p>\n

Close<\/a>ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.<\/p>\n

The Atlanta Braves<\/a>, hoping to shore up an uncertain middle-infield situation for next season, claimed Ha-Seong Kim<\/a> off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old Kim, who can play shortstop and second base, is owed roughly $2 million for the remainder of the 2025 season and another $16 million in 2026. He has been on the IL with lower back inflammation since Aug. 21 but is expected to join the Braves on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The Braves are navigating through the tail end of a thoroughly disappointing season, having gone 62-75 heading into Labor Day, but they have hopes of contending next year and are willing to take on money in hopes of bridging the gap.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Picks<\/a><\/p>\n

The Braves have received a major-league-worst .525 OPS from the shortstop position this year, with Orlando Arcia<\/a> released in late May and Nick Allen<\/a> struggling offensively.<\/p>\n

Second baseman Ozzie Albies<\/a>, a three-time All-Star, is in the midst of his worst offensive season, slashing .234\/.303\/.350 with 13 home runs and 12 stolen bases in 137 games. The Braves have back-to-back $7 million club options on Albies’ contract after this season.<\/p>\n

Kim can opt out of his deal at the conclusion of the World Series, but that is unlikely given his struggles coming off shoulder surgery.<\/p>\n

A right-handed hitter who can also play third base, Kim established himself as a premium defender at shortstop and a fan favorite while with the San Diego Padres<\/a>. From 2022 to 2024, Kim slashed .250\/.336\/.385 and accumulated 13 Baseball-Reference wins above replacement.<\/p>\n

In his first season with the Rays, however, Kim slashed just .214\/.290\/.321 with two homers and five RBIs in 24 games.<\/p>\n

Atlanta also activated shortstop Luke Williams<\/a> from the 10-day injured list before its series opener against the Chicago Cubs<\/a>. Right-hander Rolddy Mu\u00f1oz<\/a> was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett, and infielder Austin Riley<\/a>, who had season-ending core surgery last month, was transferred to the 60-day injured list.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alden GonzalezSep 1, 2025, 02:55 PM ET CloseESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-125649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}