Former Major League Baseball general manager and journalist Jim Bowden has an unusual take on Ryu Hyun-jin.
On Sept. 29 (ET), Bowden wrote in The Athletic that Ryu is a good fit for the Kansas City Royals.
There were two main reasons. The first is that Ryu is an experienced veteran, and the second is that Kansas City could trade him for prospects.레모나토토 주소
In other words, if he pitches well on the cheap, they can trade him to a top team for prospects.
“Kansas City needs a proven starter to keep them in games and keep them in games,” Bowden said.
“More importantly, they need players to trade for prospects at the deadline, as they did this year with the successful trade of Aroldis Chapman to the Texas Rangers.”
Kansas City finished the 2023 season with a record of 56 wins, 106 losses, and a .346 winning percentage. That was last in the American League Central and 29th in the majors in winning percentage. Kansas City is in a tough spot right now. They need a rebuilding period to assemble their players and wait for their prospects to develop.
In this sense, Hyun-jin Ryu is the right choice for Kansas City. He’s not an ace, but he can hold down a spot in the rotation and set an example for younger players.
If Ryu ends up pitching better than expected, he could be traded in the summer to teams in immediate need of power.
Bowden estimates that Ryu could sign a one-year, $8 million deal with Kansas City. It could be a “bottom of the barrel” deal for Kansas City.
Kansas City also sold top reliever Aroldis Chapman to Texas in July. Kansas City received left-handed starting pitching prospect Cole Lagans and teenage outfielder Ronnie Cabrera. After the trade, Lagans went 5-2 with a 2.64 ERA in 12 games. Texas went on to win the World Series.