Dodgers can keep Hyeseong Kim in the majors by making this one obvious roster move

Despite starting the season in the minors, Hyeseong Kim is slowly but surely turning into a key part of the Dodgers' lineup. In the first 12 games after his call-up, he batted .429 with a 1.038 OPS and enjoyed a great series against the Athletics this week. He hit his first major league homer in the second game, which tied things up for LA before the rest of the lineup took off, and he had a near-perfect day in the finale, going 3-for-3 at the plate with two walks, two RBI, and four runs scored.

The only problem is that Kim's position still doesn't feel guaranteed. Tommy Edman's return keeps getting pushed further and further back as he struggles with his ankle and Teoscar Hernández's timeline is still sort of up in the air, but Kim and James Outman are the most obvious cuts when they come back.

Outman hasn't been nearly as impressive as Kim, so sending him back to the minors won't be much of an issue when the corresponding move brings back either Edman or Hernández. But if the roster crunch threatens Kim, that'll be harder for Dodgers fans to accept.

There's a very clear solution to keeping Kim in the majors, though, and it's a move that would mimick their DFA of Austin Barnes earlier this week. All they have to do is cut Chris Taylor.

Dodgers should finally part ways with Chris Taylor if it means keeping Hyeseong Kim in the majors

The Dodgers have a history of protecting their veterans, which is what made Barnes' DFA so surprising. But why stop there? Barnes and Taylor were two of the weakest links offensively, and now that Barnes is gone, Taylor stands alone as the sore thumb.

He's gotten just six starts all season, where Kim has already gotten eight. A puff piece at the beginning of the season tried to sell Taylor's defensive versatility as his "superpower," but Kim can do all of that, too, and he's the better bat.

Taylor is batting .200 with a .457 OPS in 28 games, the majority of which he's been a late-inning substitute in blowouts. He took Andy Pages' spot in the lineup on Thursday after just three innings, but the Dodgers were already up 13-2 by that point.

The Dodgers owe Taylor a lot more money this year than they do to Barnes, but there's just no other solution for keeping Kim in the majors when Kiké Hernández is still hitting better than Taylor. If the Dodgers are finally letting go of some of that sentimentality that's kept Barnes and Taylor on the roster all these years, then they should take that to its logical conclusion and let Taylor go, too.