Harold Reynolds' initial reaction to Braves' Ha-Seong Kim signing was embarrassing

Even the most critical corners of Atlanta Braves fandom knows that analyzing moves in baseball as they happen while on TV or radio is very difficult. There is little room for nuance in the moment, but you are incentivized in those sorts of jobs to be both correct AND drive conversation around the move and the players involved. However, when the Braves brought back Ha-Seong Kim on a one-year deal, MLB Network's Harold Reynolds definitely did not rise to the task...or seemingly even try that hard to.

Most pundits reasonably thought that Kim's eventual free agent deal would be for multiple years at a rate close to or exceeding the $16 million AAV that he left on the table when Kim declined his option. In such a terrible shortstop market, that the Braves got Kim on a fairly reasonable one year deal has been largely praised.

Don't tell that to Reynolds, though. Not only does he think that Kim is not worth $20 million a year, but he was certain that Kim was a utility player and genuinely confused that Kim would be getting the bulk of the reps at shortstop.

Harold Reynolds' take on Ha-Seong Kim felt like a kid that showed up to school and forgot it was his day to make a presentation

Again, reasonable people can disagree as to how good Kim is. His bat is a true question mark and there are some injury concerns. It would be different if Reynolds worried that Kim wouldn't hold up all year long or that he would flame out at the plate.

Instead, Reynolds got hung up on the fact that since he moved positions with the Padres, that the Braves were just paying $20 million for a utility player. He also seemed incredulous at the idea that Atlanta was signing him to play short. Not in the "they couldn't find someone better?" way, but in the "wait, that is what he is going to do?" way as if he forgot (or never knew) that Kim was being targeted as an everyday shortstop this offseason by a number of teams.

We shouldn't be surprised. Reynolds' history of being prepared and rational on broadcasts is...spotty. He famously embarrassed himself after showing he didn't know how slugging percentage works during an on-air discussion with Ken Rosenthal and also implied that Freddie Freeman didn't hit for power in a different conversation related to the drafting of Brett Baty. Sometimes, Harold is just floating around in his own little created reality divorced from the rest of us.

There was a time when Reynolds was one of the better analysts on TV and he still can provide insights when something is right in his wheelhouse. Unfortunately, the Kim signing was not one of those times and it is, frankly, kind of hard to watch.