Officials from Hanwha Group, the parent company of the KBO League Hanwha Eagles, and Ryu Hyun-jin indirectly acknowledged Ryu’s comeback to Korea on the 20th. Ryu, who played in the U.S. Major League Baseball, became a free agent in October last year when his team, the Toronto Blue Jays, was eliminated from the postseason.유흥알바
As Ryu Hyun-jin failed to find a new team even after 30 MLB teams entered this spring camp, chances of returning to his former team Hanwha have increased. Among them, rumors spread in the baseball community on the 19th that Ryu Hyun-jin had agreed to a contract with Hanwha. The four-year total contract period and amount of 17 billion won to 18 billion won came out. Rumors of Ryu Hyun-jin’s return to Korea surfaced as KBS reported, citing Korean-Canadian residents, that Ryu Hyun-jin sent his luggage stored in Toronto to Korea.
If Ryu returns to the Korean baseball league, he will join the Hanwha Eagles. When he moved to the big league in 2013, he transferred to the Los Angeles Dodgers through posting (closed competitive bidding) as a player of the Hanwha Eagles, not the FA. “We are discussing with Ryu Hyun-jin about returning to the Hanwha Eagles,” a Hanwha Group official said, acknowledging for the first time that the deal has not been finalized.
In fact, the Hanwha Eagles started finalizing its bid for Ryus return. Through the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), the Hanwha Eagles asked the MLB Secretariat to check Ryus status. Chances are high that Hanwhas request to check Ryus status is the final step in the recruitment process. According to the Korea-U.S. player contract agreement under the KBO League rules, if a Korean team wants to sign a player who has been active or active as a professional or amateur player in the U.S. and other countries, or a player who is currently under contract with 30 teams in the big league, it must go through the KBO Secretariat to check his status with the MLB Secretariat.
If Ryu completes his final contract with the Hanwha Eagles soon, he will likely move to Okinawa, Japan, and join the team’s second spring camp. According to some media reports, the Hanwha Eagles have already started making Ryu’s uniform. If Ryu returns, the Hanwha Eagles will rapidly emerge as a dark horse that will shake the game in the KBO League. The available starting rotation resources include Ryu Hyun-jin, Felix Peña, Moon Dong-ju, and Ricardo Sanchez. Jang Min-jae, Kim Ki-joong, and Hwang Jun-seo are also among the good candidates. Among the fielders, Chae Eun-sung and Noh Si-hwan are still in good shape, and An Chi-hong can also join the team to build solid strength.
Since starting his professional career by being drafted by the Hanwha Eagles as the second overall pick in the first round of the 2006 rookie draft, Ryu has recorded excellent performances of 98 wins, 52 losses, 27 complete games, and eight shutouts with an ERA of 2.80 in 1,269 innings in 190 games through 2012. Notably, he recorded 18 wins, 6 losses, an earned run average of 2.23 and one save in 30 games during his debut season, achieving the Triple Crown not only by winning the most, but also by becoming the ERA and strikeout king. He also grabbed Rookie of the Year, MVP, and Golden Glove.