Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts Hinted at LA's Latest Signing Nearly a Year Ago

Nov 1, 2024; Los Angeles, CA, USA;  Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) performs with rapper Ice Cube during the teams World Series Championship Celebration at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Nov 1, 2024; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30) performs with rapper Ice Cube during the teams World Series Championship Celebration at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Before embarking on the journey that led up to the franchise's eighth World Series trophy, manager Dave Roberts was already thinking of ways to improve.

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The confidence of a manager should almost always point to October baseball, especially if your team is the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Before the team touched back down in Los Angeles — they played the first two games of the 2024 season at the Gocheok Sky Dome in South Korea — Roberts was already thinking of ways to improve our roster.

Perhaps he had a feeling he would be making changes to a roster not just capable of, but already having won a championship, when he made this comment in Mar. 2024.

"Our scouts like the second baseman: just the way his body moves. There's some life to the bat and defensively, he made a nice play out there"

The second baseman in question was none other than the three-time KBO Gold Glove winner, Hyeseong Kim.

Kim, now a member of the Dodgers by way of a $12 million contract earlier this month, showed his talents to the future 2024 World Series winners and clearly made an impact, despite the team already having an everyday second baseman.

The now-traded Gavin Lux had been with L.A. since 2016. Although he was slightly below average on the defensive side of things with his nine errors committed last season, he was certainly a fan-favorite.

His bat was one that was relied on time and time again slashing .251/.320/.383. last season. His final swing in a Dodgers uniform most recently came in the 8th inning of the World Series. The game-tying sacrifice fly in a Series-clinching Game 5.

Kim, a considerable step up defensively, can play anywhere around the diamond, providing a lot of comfort for a Dodgers team that may have an influx of infielders at the start of Spring Training.

Offensively, the 25-year-old hit .326/.383/.458 in the KBO last season with 11 home runs and 75 RBI — both of which were career highs.

Kim, much like his new National League MVP teammate Shohei Ohtani, has a knack for stealing bases. He swiped 211 bases since 2017 in Korea.

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