The Dodgers won the negotiating rights to Korean left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu with a $25,737,737.33 bid, MLB has announced. It's the largest bid ever for a South Korean player, and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com says (on Twitter) that there was at least one more bid in the $20MM range. The numbers three and seven are considered lucky in Korea, hence the unusual winning amount. Ryu is a Scott Boras client and the two sides will now have 30 days to work out a contract since the Hanwha Eagles have already accepted the bid.
Ryu, 25, was posted earlier this month. He's been one of the Korea Baseball Organization's most dominant pitchers over the last five years or so, helping the country to Olympic gold in 2008 and a second place finish in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. ESPN's Keith Law said Ryu has an 88-91 mph fastball and a "plus changeup with good arm speed and a fringy curveball in the upper 70s, which is a better left-on-left option right now than his slider." He ranked the southpaw 37th on his Top 50 Free Agents list and said he could wind up in the bullpen given concerns about his durability and thick body.
The Dodgers already have six starters, but Ted Lilly (shoulder), Chad Billingsley (elbow), and Clayton Kershaw (hip) are coming off injuries. Upgrades over Aaron Harang and Chris Capuano could be found as well. Los Angeles has reportedly kicked the tires on free agents like Zack Greinke, Anibal Sanchez, and Hiroki Kuroda this offseason, though it's unclear how winning Ryu's rights would impact their search for pitching. They still have to sign him first, of course.
Jon Heyman, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News, ESPN's Buster Olney, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun, Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times, and MLB.com's Jordan Bastian all reported on the story, mostly through Twitter. Dan Kurtz of MyKBO first reported the winning bid amount (on Twitter) while Mike Petriello of the blog Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness first reported that the Dodgers had won the bidding (on Twitter).
That’s way too much money! You could sign a MLB proven starter instead with that money (Jackson, Dempster, Haren).
Dempster maybe, but I don’t think you’re going to sign either of the other two for $25M, and even getting Dempster for that would be surprising.
Sounds like an LA dodgers type bid..
This must be the Cubs. Only Theo would pull off something like this.
I’m going to guess the Cubs. This is the one area a rebuilding team can still flex their spending muscles. With payroll scaled back a little for the next couple years, a signing like this would make sense.
Jon Heyman just ruled them out over Twitter.
Guys, it’s totally either the Rays, Royals, or Padres.
Imagine if it was one of these teams haha!
737 is the area code for Texas, no?
For the Austin area, yeah.
972, 469, 214, 817 is DFW.
737 is being commissioned in 2013.
Jon Heyman just tweeted that it was NOT the Cubs….for what it’s worth.
The posting fee doenst count towards the “cap”…players with a posting fee tend to have a lower contract then if they were true free agents…I’m guessing its a big market that will be trying to sneak under the cap in the next few years. Yankees, Angels, Red Sox, Dodgers, etc.
If its the Red Sox then I want to be a fly on the wall when Ortiz reads this. Put his hand through a wall and be out for the season.
On a serious note. I do not know much about Ryu would he make an impact in the Majors right away?
He has a 3-4 starter potential. Strike out pitch curve ball, good control, flat fastball. Control will get him by.
Does he pitch to contact? Or is he more of a strikeout pitcher? More fly or ground ball outs?
In Korea, he was a strike out pitcher. Korean league is about AAA level talent.
korean league isn’t ‘about triple a in talent level’. it’s at best double a in base talent (some may argue towards single a) with 2 or 3 triple a class or beyond players for each team. 국내 야구 자주 접하시는 분이라면 이런 말씀 함부러 안하실텐데..
How you know is like AAA?? Are you a scout?
Average velocity 88-89mph, can dial up to 93. Above-average changeup, mediocre third pitch. Durable, has pitcher’s frame. Project to be #4 with upside for #3. Of course can be destroyed like Igawa Kei years ago.
“Kei Igawa” Please have mercy in us Yankees fans!
From what I saw on Twitter, scouts are saying he is most likely going to be a reliever due to his durability issues.
Only year that he had durability issue was last year. Besides that he has been really healthy and durable. Also, he has been participating at every single Korean national team games which means he is very durable.
Cubs need their money for Liriano.
Haha you want Liriano, also he has said he hates the city of Chicago so I doubt he signs there!
the angels, as a money move!
Doubt it’s the Rangers since that money is better spent upping the upcoming offer to Greinke.
True. But we dont know if Greinke told them they are out. This couldve been plan B.
I don’t think Greinke’s eager to return to Anaheim after they blew three straight quality starts of his, including a shutout in progress through 8+ IP.
Sounds like a Dodgers bid for sure but Im trying to think who would spend this much on a posting fee and for a BOR or reliever? When will we know or maybe we dont if a deal doesnt get done?
The Yankees spent about that much for a sun glassed AAA loggy lefty.
Can anyone remember his name?
Any word on when we Will find out who won?
I bet Greinke is going to get overpaid because he is the true #1 on the market and he doesnt cost anybody a draft pick which is valuable in the new CBA since most of a teams allocated money comes from the 1st rd. slot.
Why do I feel like it was Cherington?
I agree. Sox in desperate need of pitching and lots of money to spend.
If we’re going to go by process of elimination, this is going to be a long night.
The Dodgers have been spending foolishly lately, it’s probably them.
I now have a feeling it is the Dodgers. They are the only ones who would spend 20+ million dollars on a reliever.
Dodgers are the only team willingly going way over the Luxury Tax for 2013. AFAIK posting fees don’t count against luxury tax so paying $25M posting fee then signing Ryu to a 5 year contract is cheaper for them (and only them) than paying an MLB ballplayer an extra $5M/year.
Rangers did not win, Cubs did not win, Dodgers are filthy stinking rich, and someone bid 25 million for a reliever, this screams dodgers.
Another asian pitcher bust for you guys??
Okajima was far from a bust. It’s way too early to tell if Tazawa is a bust or not, as he just came back from Tommy John Surgery. Matsuzaka had a 3.9 WAR in his 2007 (and won the World Series) and a 3.3 WAR in 2008. He got injured in the 2009 WBC and was never the same, but it’s not like that’s never happened before. He’s pitched 100 innings once since, in 2010, with a 2.6 WAR. He’s not nearly as bad as everyone seems to think.
Which of those were actually a bust?
Including the posting fee the Red Sox spent over 100 million dollars on Daisuke. While, they won the World Series in 2007, and he probably generated more than 100 million in revenue he could still be considered a bust.
I get that. But people on here talk like he’s the first guy to ever get an injury, or that the Red Sox have never had a successful asian pitcher. It’s like they see “Red Sox” and lose focus. I thought this was a place for adults to discuss baseball?
I believe the hype machine of the media made him seem like the second coming, when he was just an above average pitcher.
Wrong! Why Dice-K has been a bust over the last 2 seasons. He DID help the Red Sox win the world series and pitched decent the following season/ The biggest mistake to his career was insisting in pitching in the WBC and the Red Sox allowing it. Especially have the heavy workload he had the previous season. And like you said, the Red Sox more than got the money’s worth from Dice-K. A) He helped them to their 1st WS title in decades and B) He made a ton for the Sox in revenue.
If you are going to call me wrong at least get all of your facts right. He helped them win their first WS title since 2004. That is not exactly decades.
Lester, Buchholz, Doubront, Ryu, Lackey is a lackluster rotation.
No one posted $25M if they expect to use him as a reliever.
Well, just because they signed him wouldn’t mean they were done; they could still add other pitchers and remove someone from that projected rotation.
Why are the posting fees so odd every time? I thought maybe it had to do with the conversion from South Korean Wons, but that would be 28,002,647,429.38 – which is just as strange. Who comes up with these numbers?
i doubt they are paying American Dollars to a Korean team. Probably just the conversion.
Obviously, but what I’m saying is the odd numbers that get reported ($25,737,737.33 for example) could simply be because they bid “28 billion wons,” but since the actual exchange rate causes just as strange of a number in both currencies, that can’t be it, either. Who actually says “We think he’s worth… and thirty-three cents”?
I read the post, so I know why, but I’m not saying.
boston or anaheim would be my guess.
Any word on what kind of stuff this guy possesses? Is he a hard thrower like Tazawa or a finesse-type guy?
The Boras Corporation makes Owners write a lot of 0’s. This has to be Astros if history is any indication.
But this has lots of 3s, not 0s.
Padres, Dodgers, or White Sox. Just a guess.
White Sox don’t have that kind of money.
Out of the three teams he listed, you choose the White Sox as the one that doesn’t have that kind of money?
Yeah. The Dodgers payroll is pretty much limitless with the new TV contract. Plus, the posting money won’t affect their luxury tax. The White Sox don’t have that kind of money to add, especially for a back end starter or reliever. If you have paid attention to anything Kenny Williams has said in the last year, you would know that. The Padres only have about $30 mil committed to the roster next year, before arb.
Also don’t forget Heyman who says the cubs didn’t win the bid. Also confirmed that a completed Dan haren for Carlos marmol deal which turned out wrong.
But the Cubs pulled it off the table. Not really his fault.
Yea they pulled it off but he reported that it was a completed deal before it was completed.
You’re right. SI says it’s the Cubs.
LA, Boston, or Anaheim (Dodgers being most likely) would be my guess. Not a good bid when looking at the other proven starters on the market who will join a team for less.
We don’t have any idea how much his actual contract is going to be, but I doubt there are many good starters who are going to sign for less than Ryu does.
Can you give me a scouting report on the guy.
Left handed…meh fastball, plus change, meh curve, drop and drive delivery (bad mechanics) TJ in high school.
I’m thinking a big “no” on him being better than Chen.
Both are huge risks, I probably still go with Sanchez.
If it were $25M posting fee and salary it would be a different story. Maybe the top bidder is going to try and sign him dirt cheap.
Like the article said, he’s a Scott Boras client, have you heard of his recent work?
Little good he will do here. You know what he can threaten with? Warm up the jet engines and fly back home to work for 1/3 the money.. Like he attempted to do with Matsuzaka..
News flash.. Teams post players (Korean and NPB) because they are hard up for money and it’s not looked at very well if they don’t come to terms with the winning bidder and have to return the winning bid..
But look at the contract he got Daisuke, that wasn’t dirt cheap, and I doubt he will come dirt cheap either, thought not as expensive as Matsuzaka either. he’ll prob get close to 6 mil per season, and for an unproven pitcher that’s a lot of money, especialy when you factor in the posting fee. I know it doesnt go towards the luxury tax but it still has to be paid by the team. making the guy likely over a 10 mil per year pitcher. He’s not worth that much, and that’s partly because Boras as his agent has driven up his value.
Yeah it was.. Matsuzaka (at the time) was a living legend in Japan and the best NPB pitcher. Boras was targeting 15m AAV and threatening to head back to Japan, on the jet to head back if his terms were not met..
The exact details? Epstein told Matsuzaka that he HAD to sign the contract 24 hours before the last day so a physical could be taken or they were taking the 51m posting fee back.. Boras was 100% helpless and out of the loop.
Final terms? 6Y50m contract and far south of 6/15m AAV.. Boras cannot help when a star’s prestige coming home is at stake and the team posting the player sorely needed the money in the 1st place.
Just because Boras didn’t get Matsuzaka a 15 mil AAV doesnt mean that it was a cheap signing. He may have been a legend in the NPB but that doesn’t change the fact most regarded him as a slightly more proven prospect. And for someone like that to get over 8 mil AAV is a lot of money any way you look at it, especially when compared to other prospects and their salaries.
Somewhere you are missing the point where Matsuzaka was the best SP in Japan and Boston wasn’t going to negotiate… They considered the 51m as part of the “contract” and boras did not and everyone will be hearing that tale again.. The winning bid is “not” part of the cost in his mind.. False tho it is.. A team pays the bid and it is a cost and WILL affect how much salary a team offers.
Boras isn’t going to help, but don’t believe me then.. Just wait 30 days and see for yourself for history to repeat.
I’m not saying I don’t believe you. I think we simply differ on how much we regard as a lot of money when signing an unproven player from a foreign league. I think 8 mil AAV is a lot, and you clearly don’t. Other than that I’m not sure what point you’re trying to get across.
Boston may not have wanted to negotiate but Boras already did his job when he marketed him as a player worthy of a 6 year contract at 50 mil.
Boston was making certain (from the start) they had matsuzaka locked up for 6 years and there was no out clause allowing him to prematurely become a FA as some foreign FA have been allowed, Takashi Saito being one.
When putting forth a huge signing bonus, a team wants to make certain that investment is/was protected and they were insistent on that with a 6Y deal.
I can’t see putting out 25m just to negotiate and then giving in on say a..2-3Y deal, or 6Y with an out clause after the 1st 2-3Y when the posting team holds all the cards and the team that posted him is pushing him to accespt a contract.
There is much more to this than just Boras. he gets far too much credit, especially in these IFA posting cases.
If I’m the Dodgers, Ryu. AFAIK Posting fee doesn’t count against luxury tax. Salary does.
Is the Dodgers front office really this dumb?
If you were paying attention this past season, you wouldn’t ask that question.
he wants to play as a starter.
Not sure what bowling has to do with MLB, but ok.
Hope it is the Dodgers–will tie up some of their funds with bid & contract money.
Why are people saying that he’s a reliever? This guy’s always been a starter and definitely does not have stamina issues. He could still hit the low 90s after 140 pitches, and has done so repeatedly here in Korea and even during international competitions.
Because law said he might be, of corse he also said he could be a back end starter so it’s pretty silly.
I mean I don’t see him as a #1 or 2 starter, but he would be a pretty decent back end starter who could potentially burn innings and help the bullpen get the rest they need. Using this guy out of the bullpen would be a complete waste!!
Hyunjin Ryu is born in 1987 and aggressive and the best left handed pitcher in KBO. I’m looking forward to seeing his pitching in MLB. Ryu has 90+MPH fastball and awesome changeup and decent curve and slider. He’s been strike-out winner for the last several seasons in KBO.
Back end starter at best, might just get hammered. Takes advantage of inferior KBO hitters with mediocre breaking pitches. Big overbid.
Keep down voting me. KBO is A ball. NPB is AA+. You will see.
Major league baseball teams don’t sign players based on statistics, they would have sent scouts to see him numerous times before they bid that kind of money on him, and they obviously saw the raw talent to be a successful pitcher. Just like a minor leaguer, there’s no guarantee that he ends up being successful in the majors, but you can’t just make a blanket statement like yours with any confidence.
Good amount of innings pitched… wonder why people are saying hes a reliever.
Or because they are listen to Keith Law too much.
Keith Law apparently said Ryu “could” end up in the bullpen, which is a far different thing from saying that he’s a reliever. So maybe they are misinterpreting too much.
3 and 7? Is that why Klaw ranked him 37th lol?
In Korea… What do you even think that translates to in the MLB. There are probably some AAA teams better than KBO teams.
Ryu is ,25yrs, left-handed pitcher. He got 88~95mph fastball (he can throw 95mph fastball after 130 pitched), low-80mph devastating changeup, nice curve and fair slider and have good cotrol. He has dominated Korean Baseball League with those advantages although his team, Han-wha Eagles, which has awful defense and lacks in batting skills, was always the bottom of KBO.
Come on guys, you know how much AA loves relievers.
It must be a fetish in the AL East; BenC has 23 pitchers on his 40 man roster. He and AA must feel they can have a bargain basement sale when they get everyones discarded relievers. Cherrington announced another signing of a reliever with a 6.26 ERA. Hip,Hip, Hooray. Pretty soon he’ll find one he can platoon with Gomez at 1 b and save $10 M.
There’s definitely less competition in this venue as they are doing nothing competing where it really counts.
I’ll take one more reliever over here…needless does BC realize that he released the one better than all he’s signed-Michael Olmsted.
In 2012 he went 9-9 with an ERA of 2.66 pitching 188 innings with a WHIP on 1.09. His best year was when he was 18 winning the Triple crown/ ROY and MVP. Interesting. I can see why people think is durability is an issue since he has throw 1000+ innings since 18 years old.
Yeah not sure why people are calling Ryu a reliever. His career says starter and a lefty who throws in the low 90’s with 3 complimentary pitches seems to profile as a SP to me, and probably a guy who has a chance to be a decent SP.
if dodgers win this would be could. the dodgers will get some ad moneys from korean companies like when they signed kuroda to get japanese corporations to have some finance stuff going on.
According to his wikipedia page, the winning bidder will be disclosed on Nov. 12.
Agree. Looking at him, I think he profiles nicely as a mid-rotation SP. I like that he can throw into the mid-90’s, is left-handed and has 3 secondary pitches.
If the Dodgers can get Greinke too it would be great. A rotation of Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, Billz and Beckett would be fine by me.
Then, the Dodgers can trade Capuano and Harang and still have Lilly for depth.
Mid rotation, unproven starter that may cost up to 80 million is not a smart investment.
I doubt Ryu is getting a $55 million dollar contract, but we’ll see.
I think $5 to $6 mill a year is more like it for 4 or 5 years.
I’m going to say no way to the idea that Ryu is falling into the rotation or anywhere else on the big team roster at this point. The Dodgers will send him to A-ball somewhere to see what they’ve got first.
Cause at the majors you pitch most of the time every 4days in korea is every 5days with sometimes being 6days. So Keith Law whos the one that said hes more like a reliever I believe was concerned about how his stamina will translate by getting one less day of rest.
Stats in different leagues don’t really matter. He wasn’t facing MLB-caliber talent. He may be good, but it’s definitely not going to be a bargain by any means.
Question that hopefully someone can clear up for me, does Japan/KBO/NPB players factor into the MLB team’s new international spending limit?
No, because they are not amatuers.
Im starting to believe there is no cap to the Dodgers spending, with all the rumors of them going hard on Hunter and Grenkie. Perhaps it is due to the loophole in the profit sharing, or the recklessness this ownership exhibits.
LA is totally shooting to be the Marlins of the West Coast. You cannot buy a championship, particularly when you throw money at anything with a pulse. I guess they’ll try to move Beckett now. I wonder how much of his 22 million a year they’ll have to eat?
LOL, did you see how Beckett pitched down the stretch for the Dodgers? The guy was nails. Not sure why we would trade him.
How long until the Dodgers surpass the Yankees in Payroll?
Around $50m (or more if we count Ryu’s contract) for Ryu and League has to be one of the worst invesments right now.
Oh Yes I would. I know there’s no way I could prove it. But I think the Yankees have learn from their past mistakes, it’s one of the reason people don’t even mention them in this outrageous bindings anymore.
But dont you think $26m is a lot?? How much are they going to end up spending on this guy? remember is just his posting fee, now is the contract for him and yeah, Scott Boras is his agent.
I think it depends. if he’s a starter or a reliever. with him being 25 i think a starter would be the best choice.
He better be a starter. Who on their right mind bids $26m for a foreign, unproven, soft-thrower reliever?
Keep in mind, the posting fee goes to the team, not the player. If the Dodgers and Boras don’t come to terms then the player goes right back to Korea. They both have an incentive to work out something that makes sense. Keep in mind, Ryu is not likely to be a drop-in replacement for anyone on the roster currently. He has never faced anything like MLB hitting. The Dodgers are going to have him spend some time in A-ball. So this is more like a draft than a free-agent signing.
So the Dodgers paid almost $26m for him rights. Makes me wonder what kind of contract they are going to give him?
Petriello was not the first to report the Dodgers won him.
Body shape like Sidney Ponson.
I wonder what the chances are the Dodgers don’t sign him. I’m not exactly sure where he fits on the team outside of the bullpen and that’s a lot of money for a reliever. Perhaps they bid a lot to win him and not sign just to give the big middle finger to everyone?
Once again Dodgers overpay. They could have easily gotten him for $25,737,737.32.
So lets discuss this now. When will we see him in the bigs. this season or the following season?
First Korean pitcher in MLB?
The Dodgers are ruining baseball. Overpaying ridiculous amounts of money does not equal winning.
He has an excellent sense of control, half the time I can’t tell his change-up from his fastball, but his slider is pretty stealthy.
25 Million?…The guy pitches like a slightly stronger version of John Ely with a quality slider, I don’t get it. His control makes up for speed but a lot of the pitches I see these batters on YouTube swinging at would just not happen in the MLB or they’d get hammered.
Sorry, just not sold as a starter. Reliever maybe but that’s a lot of money when there’s a number of proven relievers in the MLB available.