According to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun, Hyun-soo Kim has agreed to terms with the Baltimore Orioles pending a physical.
Source: Korean OFer Hyun-soo Kim has agreed to terms with the Orioles pending medical review
— Dan Connolly (@danconnollysun) December 17, 2015
Connolly went on to report that Kim's deal is for two years and worth an average annual value of $3.5 million.
The soon-to-be 28-year old outfielder is coming off a career-high season in home runs with 28 over his 630 plate appearances. Furthermore, his .438 OBP could make him a great asset for the Orioles provided that discipline translates to success in the MLB. In the land of unfair comparisons, if Kim were in the major leagues last season, that on-base percentage would have put him right between Miguel Cabrera and Paul Goldschmidt for third-best in baseball. Kim's career KBO slash-line is .318/.406/.488. While Orioles fans shouldn't expect the third-best player in baseball, expecting Kim's elite on-base abilities to translate to at least modest major league success is definitely reasonable.
According to Baseball Reference, Kim is primarily a corner outfielder but can also play first base. While Kim isn't an ideal way to hypothetically replace Chris Davis for instance, it could be a good way for Dan Duquette and the Orioles to hedge their bet on retaining Gerardo Parra.