Despite the fact that he is not expecting the same performance as in the past at the age of retirement, stories of Ryu Hyun-jin (37) have been published day by day. The Major League predicted his unexpected popularity
The Athletic, a U.S. media outlet, had a time on the 4th (Korea time) to look back on the list of the top 40 FA in the 2023-2024 Major League Baseball, which they set last month. With Shohei Ohtani (30), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (26, LA Dodgers), and Lee Jung-hoo (26, San Francisco Giants) visiting their teams, 23 out of 40 were still lost.헤라카지노주소
While the media had a 26-member roster of 23 players left, Ryu, who was ranked 36th in the top 40 list last month, was also introduced as a starting pitcher. However, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Marcus Stroman, and Imana were not among the top five starters, which were Shota, and Clayton Kershaw. “Snell has won two Cy Young Awards, and Montgomery ended his career with a World Series victory. Demand for them is definitely increasing after Yamamoto’s contract,” The Athletic said. “We also have three starters on our big board who haven’t signed yet, including Ryu Hyun-jin, Mike Clevinger, and Michael Lorenzen.”
Ryu will certainly take the position in the FA market. He is not expected to show excellent performance, but he is a solid starting pitcher who will take charge of moderate innings in the lower rotation as long as he is healthy. Ryu, who joined the LA Dodgers from the Hanwha Eagles in 2013 through the Major League posting system, has become a 12-year veteran of the big league. He was called the “Korean Monster” after a successful 11 seasons with 78 wins, 48 losses and an earned run average of 3.27, and won a four-year, 80 million-dollar FA contract in 2020. In 2019, he ranked second in the National League Cy Young Award with 14 wins and five losses with an earned run average of 2.32 and 163 strikeouts in 182 ⅔s, demonstrating his high point.
It takes a long time to recruit him because of his age and surgical experience. Ryu returned in August last year after his second career elbow ligament surgery (Tommy John Surgery) in 2022, and posted an ERA of 3.46 in 52 innings in 11 starts. Despite these unfavorable conditions, he has been consistently mentioned by local media such as the New York Mets and the Baltimore Orioles as candidates for recruitment. On the Major League’s official website, MLB.com , on the 2nd, Ryu Hyun-jin was classified as the mid-rotation option along with Lorenzen, Menaea, Clevinger, Alex Wood, and James Paxton.
His popularity with veteran starting pitchers was already predicted. However, it was hard to guess that even pitchers such as Ryu who recently suffered major injury would be in demand. In this regard, the fact that right-handed FA Frankie Montas signed a one-year, 16-million-dollar contract with the Cincinnati Reds was meaningful. Montas threw only one game and one ⅓ inning due to shoulder surgery last year, but secured a high-priced contract, giving a glimpse into the atmosphere in the off-season starting pitcher market. Another evidence of the boom was that the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers, which are weak in postseason competitiveness, also had four out of the top 14 FA starters. Earlier, the Kansas City Royals signed FA contracts with Michael Waka, Seth Lugo, and the Detroit Tigers with Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty, respectively.
“We knew that the demand for starting pitchers this offseason was higher than the supply,” The Athletic said. “However, the prediction became a reality after four out of the top 14 starting FA players were excluded from the big board due to the participation of Kansas City and Detroit, not their postseason rivals.” “The Arizona Diamondbacks signed another big name, Eduardo Rodriguez, and this proved that supply is thin, but demand may be higher than ever. Among the winning contenders, only the Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Philadelphia Phillies have meaningfully resolved the issue of starting rotation,” he added.
MLB.com agreed that the market for starting pitchers is still booming. MLB.com said, “We still have solid mid-range pitching options in the FA market. They may not be the most attractive names. However, these pitchers can help strengthen the starting rotation of each team.”
Naturally, the timing of Ryu’s contract is only a matter of when it comes to him, and he will likely be heard before the spring camp. The mood has completely changed from the time when rumors of his return to the Hanwha Eagles started after the end of the season. The most likely candidate at the moment is the New York Mets. News that he is steadily raising Ryu as a candidate for recruitment was mentioned by the New York Post, SNY and other local media in New York. “Ryu has a slight risk of injury, as he started only 25 games a year during his Major League career. However, when he is on the mound, he is one of the most effective and reliable left-handers,” SNY said.