“I won’t oppose the Pirates pursuing Ryu Hyun-jin, but… “
The status and evaluation of Ryu Hyun-jin (36, Toronto Blue Jays), who will enter the free agent market in one month, is quite different from when he first became a free agent four years ago. As four years passed, he was now in his mid to late 30s. In the meantime, there was a gap period due to Tommy John surgery and rehabilitation. The 2021 season, in which he played full time, was poor.
It is natural for evaluations to be lowered. Ryu Hyun-jin returned last August and had a successful debut. In 10 games, he went 3 wins, 3 losses, an ERA of 3.31, a hitting percentage of 0.242, and a WHIP of 1.22. He is of a high standard. The praise from foreign media means that Ryu Hyun-jin is a 4th or 5th starter, so he is good at that level.레고토토
It seems realistically impossible for Ryu Hyun-jin to sign a contract larger than the $80 million (approximately 108 billion won) contract he signed four years ago this winter. He is expected to sign a 1-2 year contract and focus on increasing his average annual salary. His game management ability and command remain competitive.
Rum Bunter, who covers the Pittsburgh Pirates at Fansided, wrote an article on the 26th (hereinafter Korean time) reminiscent of Ryu Hyun-jin’s current address. He basically argued that he should turn his attention to top-tier free agent starting pitchers and the international free agent pitching market. Pittsburgh ranks 11th in the National League this season with an average ERA of 4.89. Mitch Keller is 13-9 with an ERA of 4.21 in 32 games, Johan Oviedo is 9-14 with an ERA of 4.12 in 31 games, and Luis Ortiz is 4-5 with an ERA of 4.96 in 17 games (14 as a starter). Kotreras recorded only 3 wins, 7 losses, and an average ERA of 6.59 in 19 games (11 as a starter). With 74 wins and 83 losses, they finished 8th in the National League wild card race, missing out on advancing to the postseason. Naturally, this is a team that has a thirst for a special ace. Since there is ample payroll, there is a need to bring in an ace who can become a pillar. In this situation, it is difficult to guarantee that Ryu Hyun-jin and Bae Ji-hwan will eat together.
Rum Bunter said, “I am not opposed to the Pirates pursuing Kenta Maeda (35, Minnesota Twins), Michael Lorenzen (31, Philadelphia Phillies), and Ryu Hyun-jin, but we need to secure starting pitcher options of slightly higher quality.” Maeda and Lorenzen are also not key pitchers on their team. Ryu Hyun-jin and Maeda are veterans.
The prospective free agent starting pitchers Rum Bunter recommended to Pittsburgh included Jordan Montgomery (Texas Rangers), international free agent Shota Imanaga (Yokohama DeNA Baystars), and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Olix Buffaloes). On the other hand, he predicted that it would be difficult to recruit a high-quality starting pitcher in the trade market. Pittsburgh is a team that does not have an advantage in the trade market at this point because it has many young and promising players.
