The “Korean Monster” Ryu Hyun-jin will likely continue to play Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2024.
Ryu’s agent, Scott Boras, appeared at the general managers’ meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Sept. 9 (KST). According to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Canadian outlet Sportsnet, Boras told reporters that “there’s a lot of interest from big league teams,” after being asked about the free agent.
Ryu, who broke into the big leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2013, played for one team through 2019 before signing a four-year, $80 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays that winter. He took on the challenge of the hard-hitting American League East. 캡틴토토
It wasn’t all smooth sailing. In its first year, the season was disrupted by COVID-19 and the number of games per team was reduced to 60. In addition, Toronto was unable to use its home stadium, Rogers Centre, due to Canadian government restrictions, and had to play its home games elsewhere until July 2021.
Still, Ryu had a successful first year in Toronto, going 5-2 with a 2.69 ERA in 12 games and 67 innings pitched. In 2021, he reached double-digit wins with a 14-10 record and a 4.37 ERA in 31 games and 169 innings pitched.
However, Ryu’s big break came in June of last year. Injuries caught up with him. After taking the mound against the Chicago White Sox on June 2, 2022, Ryu felt unwell after completing his assignment, and after a medical examination, he decided to undergo elbow ligament splicing surgery (Tommy John surgery). His third season with Toronto came to a premature end.
There were no guarantees that he would be able to make a comeback after his elbow ligament surgery, and his age seemed to be an issue. Local media outlets were also mostly pessimistic about Ryu.
After more than a year of rehabilitation, Ryu made his first start in more than a year and two months on Aug. 2 at home against the Baltimore Orioles. Since then, he has worked his way through the starting rotation, showing Toronto that he is healthy, especially in August, when he went 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA in five games and 24 innings. Everyone on the team, including Toronto manager John Schneider, welcomed Ryu’s return.
The end was disappointing. With three wins on the season, Ryu was unable to add any more, and was pulled from the mound after just three innings against the Tampa Bay Rays on March 1, when the team was in the thick of the race. He didn’t even make the roster for the Wild Card Series against the Minnesota Twins (ALWC).
After four years of twists and turns, Ryu is now a free agent. He had to decide between staying in the major leagues and returning to the KBO. When he returned home in the middle of last month, he said, “I don’t know yet. I don’t think I can say anything yet. I think I’ll have to wait and see, and time will tell,” he said.
While he didn’t directly announce his intention to stay or return, he would be lying if he said he didn’t want to stay in the majors. “I think it’s natural to want to stay in the major leagues if you have a good story, and if you don’t, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Ryu said.
In the United States, there are still reports that several teams in the major leagues are interested in signing Ryu to a short-term contract. MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, reported that Ryu could sign a one-year, $8 million contract.
Every professional athlete has to face “the end” at some point, and Ryu has been thinking about it for some time. “That feeling (that I want to spend the rest of my career with Hanwha) hasn’t changed. Of course I will do that,” he emphasized. But the timing is up to him.
Meanwhile, Boras did not forget to mention another Korean player, Lee Jung-hoo, 25. In January, Lee informed Kiwoom Heroes of his intention to play overseas after the 2023 season, and the club accepted. He signed a contract with Boras Corporation and began his quest for the American scene in earnest.
“Nearly half the league has inquired about Lee,” said Boras. “The Boston Red Sox signed Masataka Yoshida from Japan because they knew his hitting skills were very good, and Lee has a combination of defense and power, which is an advantage, especially in the middle infield. I think he’s going to bring the K-pop craze to MLB.”
