"Obviously flagged him" - Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes opens up on team's early interest in Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim during 2024 Seoul Series

The Los Angeles Dodgers secured Korean star Hyeseong Kim with a three-year, $12.55 million contract on Friday.

Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes shared that the team’s scouts had been eyeing Kim for quite some time, making his acquisition a long-anticipated goal for the organization. Gomes also mentioned Kim's performance against the Dodgers in an exhibition game for Team Korea in Seoul last March.

"Yeah, you know, our scouts had obviously flagged him that he was potentially going to be posted this year. I think there was like the dynamic athlete and explosiveness that he showed in that game against us really stood out. And then obviously you see the body of work and you're like, okay, that makes a lot of sense how those things match up," Gomes said (0:40 onwards).

"So, you know, when you're able to add somebody with that type of athleticism and, you know, that tool package, it's something that we're really excited about," he added.

The 25-year-old has made a name for himself during his stint with the Kiwoom Heroes and ended up winning the KBO Golden Glove Award four times consecutively.

He might play as a utility player for the reigning World Series winners, considering that he's recorded a .304 hitter with 37 home runs and 211 stolen bases in 953 games.

Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani sent words of praise to Hyeseong Kim for being selected by the Dodgers

According to some reports, Shohei Ohtani had some involvement in the recruitment process of the Korean prospect Hyeseong Kim. Noah Camras of Newsweek has talked about how Ohtani went to Korea just to meet Kim and even "gave him a lot of advice" during his free agency period.

"It appears the Dodgers superstar did some recruiting to land Kim, who took less money and years to join the Dodgers," said Noah Camras.

Right after he was recruited, Ohtani congratulated the young player on his Instagram story.

Hyeseong Kim thanks new teammate Shohei Ohtani after being greeted in Korean (credit: kimhs.3/Instagram)

"환영합니다 친구야," (Welcome, my friend) he captioned the IG story.

Hyeseong Kim also shared the 2024 NL MVP's Instagram story and thanked him for his lovely wishes for him to join the Dodgers.

"Thank you," Kim wrote in response.

The Dodgers have a strong roster with Gavin Lux at the second base, Max Muncy at the third base, and Mookie Betts holding down the shortstop. Now, with Kim added to the team, the Dodgers will be going strong in the 2025 season.