Late-blooming KBO star could fall into Brewers' lap before the end of the month

Major League Baseball's offseason is in full swing. The Winter Meetings are fast approaching, All-Stars are being traded, and the Pittsburgh Pirates are swinging deals. While most of the biggest dominoes are yet to fall, with a winter full of contract negotiations ahead, several markets have started to move prior to the Winter Meetings, which is not always the case. Such action bodes well for offseason spending during a year when many expected the potential looming lockout to significantly hamper teams' willingness to hand out free agent contracts.

Deals like the ones Dylan Cease (7-year, $210 million with the Toronto Blue Jays) and Devin Williams (3-year, $51 million with the New York Mets) earned and trades of pitchers like Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo have already moved the starting and relief pitcher markets, but the position player market has been much quieter, with Josh Naylor and the Seattle Mariners' reunion being the most notable free agent signing. Many teams and players are likely waiting for the big chips -- Kyle Schwarber, Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger, Alex Bregman -- to fall before agreeing to contracts, which could happen before the end of the Winter Meetings.

Meanwhile, with few holes on their roster this offseason, the Milwaukee Brewers are left looking for opportunistic deals. The team's 2026 position player group is expected to look very similar to its 2025 iteration, but one area where the Brewers could look to improve this offseason is their bench, particularly their backup infield options. Milwaukee appears likely to roll with a starting infield of Caleb Durbin, Joey Ortiz, Brice Turang, and Andrew Vaughn (from third to first) -- the same way they ended the 2025 season -- in 2026, but the team could certainly add another infielder to the mix, one who can serve as a depth piece and step into a starting role if injuries or underperformance arise. Such a player, who could sign for well below his value as a result of the slow-moving infielder market, was posted by his former club in Korea back in mid-November.

KBO infielder Sung-mun Song's quickly closing posting window could lead to opportunistic deal for Brewers

In recent years, the frequency of players joining MLB after beginning their careers in Asia has increased. This offseason, players like Munetaka Murakami, Tatsuya Imai, and Kazuma Okamoto have claimed all of the headlines with each of them expected to be signed away from their Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) teams in Japan with sizable contracts from MLB clubs. However, across the Sea of Japan, there are several players who have been posted by their teams in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), who are more realistic options for the Brewers and other small-market teams, despite holding significant upside themselves.

One such player is Kiwoom Heroes infielder Sung-mun Song, whose last two seasons have been among the best in KBO during that span. After a slow start to his professional career, the now-29-year-old Song slashed .340/.409/.518 with 19 homers in 142 games. He followed it up with a .315/.387/.530 slash line in 2025, during which he crushed 26 homers and 37 doubles in 144 games. He has manned every infield position other than shortstop throughout his career, but has logged the most innings at the hot corner.

Even with those gaudy numbers, Song's name has seldom come up in rumors this offseason, despite being posted by Kiwoom back on November 22. With the posting window only lasting 30 days for players coming over from the KBO (NPB's posting window is 45 days long), Song has until just December 21 to reach a deal with an MLB team. Given how little the infield market has moved so far this offseason, interest in Song's services may not have picked up by the time his posting window is coming to a close. In such a scenario, his price could be driven down to the point where it makes sense for the Brewers to add him to their roster, even with the posting fee that they would have to pay the Kiwoom Heroes.

Clearly, Song has figured something out over the last two seasons, with his numbers taking a significant jump from where they sat after the first seven years of his professional career. If Milwaukee believes in whatever adjustment he made prior to the 2024 season, they could look to add him to their infield group this offseason.