Once safe bet, besieged Kim Hyun-soo on Orioles' bubble

By Yoo Jee-ho SEOUL, March 31 (Yonhap) -- At the start of his first Major League Baseball (MLB) spring training, Kim Hyun-soo of the Baltimore Orioles was regarded as a safe bet to make the club's Opening Day roster, thanks to the skill sets that analysts here felt would make him a solid big league outfielder -- his ability to make consistent contact and plate discipline, among others. After all, the Orioles handed him a two-year, US$7-million contract last December to fill several needs in their lineup as a left-handed hitting corner outfielder who can hit for a decent average and gap power and reach base consistently. Yet almost none of what made him a batting champion and a perennial All-Star in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) has been on display this month. His stock has plummeted to a point where the O's management is openly discussing the possibility of sending Kim to the minors at the start of the season. The one caveat: by the terms of his deal, Kim, besieged as he may be, can refuse an outright assignment to the minors. Kim's struggles at the plate have been well documented. A KBO batting champion at age 20 in 2008, Kim went hitless in his first 23 at-bats. He strung together an 8-for-19 streak to reach the Mendoza Line, but his batting average dipped to .182 after two more hitless games. Kim, who has no extra-base hit in 44 at-bats, hasn't played since March 26. Along the way, manager Buck Showalter's patience started to wear thin. The same man who claimed he knew Kim would need time to adjust is now saying he has spoken to the player about accepting the assignment to the minors -- this shift in a span of about 20 days. Showalter said Wednesday Kim will not play while his status remains in limbo. Dan Duquette, the club's executive vice president of baseball operations, recently told local media that Kim is not going to be on the 25-man roster at the start of the season, before he'd even had discussions with the player about the minors. Duquette's comments were first reported Wednesday, Korean time, after the team had been mum about a Fox Sports report from the weekend that the Orioles once had internal discussions about shipping him back to South Korea. Showalter also said he'd first approached Kim about starting the season in the minors. The Baltimore Sun reported that Kim "was more receptive" about going to the minors in his second meeting Tuesday with Showalter and Duquette. Yet a source close to the player told Yonhap News Agency that Kim hasn't made a decision one way or another as of Thursday morning, Seoul time. The comments and actions taken by the O's management have irked South Korean fans who feel the club is unfairly pressuring Kim into making a decision after only giving him limited opportunities. South Korean news articles that translate quotes by Duquette and Showalter are typically accompanied by angry responses directed at the two principals and the club. Even the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) has reportedly got in on the act to try to protect Kim's contractual rights. The MLBPA didn't immediately respond to e-mail and voice messages seeking comment. Many of the South Korean fans also see the Orioles' action as not just an insult to Kim, but to Korean baseball as a whole, and they're also concerned that the O's treatment of one of the KBO's stars -- a career .318 hitter, third-highest among active players at the end of 2015 -- may set a bad precedent for others who would want to follow in his footsteps to the majors. That the Orioles have already had some unsavory history with players from South Korea hasn't helped the situation. Veteran reliever Chong Tae-hyon was nearing a deal with the Orioles in 2011 but failed the club's notoriously stringent physical. The following year, the Orioles breached an agreement between the KBO and MLB when they signed underage high school pitcher Kim Seong-min. Before the 2014 season, the O's signed former KBO MVP-winning pitcher Yoon Suk-min, who spent one year in Triple-A Norfolk before returning to South Korea. Reports about Kim's potential U-turn to South Korea have cited Yoon's example. The right-hander at first signed a three-year deal with Baltimore but Yoon and the club worked out a deal to release the pitcher from that contract. The Orioles are apparently hoping to finalize a similar arrangement with Kim, though he, unlike Yoon, hasn't expressed any desire to return. Duquette acknowledged that Kim "wants to succeed here and give it a longer effort." Critics of the Orioles' approach to the Kim saga have openly wondered if Kim has been given a fair chance to prove himself. By almost any measure, 44 at-bats across 16 games aren't large enough of a sample to determine whether a player -- let alone someone playing in a new league in a new country -- can compete at a high level over a long haul. Kim clearly hasn't helped himself. Most of his few hits have come on weak contact and he hasn't even come close to matching the kind of power that helped him hit a career-high 28 home runs last year, while playing in the KBO's most cavernous park, Jamsil Stadium in Seoul. The Orioles, who went through 11 left fielders in 2015 only to receive the American League's third-lowest on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) from them, are banking on Rule 5 draftee Joey Rickard to slide in as the starting left fielder. They added him to their 25-man roster Wednesday, putting even more pressure on Kim. Rickard, 24, was batting .390/.463/.576 with a home run, seven RBIs and five steals in 59 at-bats. Both Duquette and Showalter have been effusive about the career minor leaguer. As a rule, had the Orioles not kept Rickard on their 25-man roster, they would've had to ship him back to his former club, the Tampa Bay Rays, and pay them $25,000. Rickard began last season in Advanced-A ball. Rickard's "opponents quality" rating on Baseball-Reference.com, which measures the level of opposing pitchers for hitters on a scale of 10, was at 7.7 through Wednesday's games. A full 10 means full-time major leaguers, while an 8 is Triple-A and a 7 is Double-A. jeeho@yna.co.kr (END)