More Teams Actively Engaging with Hyun-Jin Ryu

Published on by Dennis Schlossman
hyun-jin-ryu2
(Photo Credit: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)

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The more starting pitchers who disappear from this winter’s free agent board, the more the stock of Hyun-Jin Ryu seems to rise.

After fellow southpaw Dallas Keuchel agreed to a three-year, $55 million pact with the White Sox on Saturday, the most recent reports have revealed that there are now up to seven different teams actively engaging with Ryu.

Not long after the Dodgers were eliminated from the 2019 postseason, many fans seemed to think that the Los Angeles roster did not need much upgrading, attributing the team’s early playoff exit to some untimely hitting and a much mismanaged bullpen by the coaching staff, specifically in the NLDS decider.

However, once those same fans became aware that the team was actively pursuing superstars like Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon, a new excitement arose, allowing supporters of the club to believe that a huge upgrade was about to take place.

For a moment, it looked like front-office boss Andrew Friedman was about to make a big splash which could conceivably push his club above most of the league’s other contenders.

Yet, as the remaining free agents continued to be plucked one by one by rival clubs, fan criticism began to quickly rise, as hopes of improving the Los Angeles roster appear to be fading quite quickly—at least in terms of a free agent perspective.

The fallback of not landing Cole or Strasburg for the Dodgers appeared to be the pursuit of Ryu. At the conclusion of the 2019 World Series, some pundits felt that Ryu could have been had for a three-year, $60 million dollar deal—especially if the offer came from a team on the West Coast—but now that he is the best available starting pitcher left standing on the free agent market, some believe that he could be commanding offers upwards of four years and $80 million.

It’s tough to tell exactly what the intentions of Friedman are, as he normally keeps most of his offseason strategies very close to his hip. Yet, the more time that passes by, the more people feel that Friedman isn’t seriously interested in offering Ryu a multi-year deal, perhaps because of the southpaw’s pedigree laden with injuries.

Jon Heyman chimed in on Sunday with a tweet that gave us an idea as to which teams are currently courting Ryu.

In the end, whichever team ends up signing Ryu may eventually be rewarded handsomely with a very effective tenure from the 32-year-old lefty. In the same breath, if an old injury ends up rearing its ugly head, a four-year deal could end up butchering a team’s long-term payroll budget in a heartbeat.

 

76 thoughts on “More Teams Actively Engaging with Hyun-Jin Ryu”

  1. Got up early and began my morning reading with articles on how the Rams gave it away. Mistakes. They made more than SF did. Disappointing to say the least. I figure a new DC is the first order of business, then address the line. Goff needs superior protection or he runs aground. He runs aground because he has no ability to run around. The Rams are stuck with him stuck in the pocket. Build the wall.

    No news on Ryu, but in reading at fangraphs I noticed in their projections they have Ryu with the team. His projections are modest, but a good modest. Not what he did this year of course but I don’t believe anybody expects that. Overall they project the Dodgers, with Ryu, to have more WAR than anyone in the NL. Well here, look for yourselves:

    https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2020-zips-projections-los-angeles-dodgers/

    I don’t know how they arrive at these numbers, and they can never be spot on, but I have found them to be overall fairly reliable. We are the best team in the league, I think every knowledgeable sports geek knows it, but the best team for 162 doesn’t guarantee anything in October. How do we get better then is the question and there is no quantifiable answer. You just continue to try and improve and peak late.

    I look for May, Lux and Gonsolin to be on the roster the entire year and contribute. I look for Jansen to improve, but recognize he will never do what he did during his prime. If it were me the closing would be a less mensurably defined role. I take the ball out of Jansen’s hand if the odds say someone else is more likely to get the last out. I know that goes against common thought, but uncommon moves may be just what this team needs. I wouldn’t have have asked Kelly to go 2 and I wouldn’t have pitched Kershaw in relief, let alone leaving him in after the first bomb. One could say Roberts’ moves were uncommon and be right. In my head there is uncommon and there is WTF!

    Roberts is Roberts and he will always follow his gut, but I hope he is learning through his mistakes. Easy for me to say. I’m considerably older than him and have made far more mistakes.

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  2. Nightengale now reporting that the Dodgers are being “very aggressive” with the Indians on Lindor/Clevinger and also keeping lines of communication open with Boston on Betts. if only this were Rosenthal or Heyman instead of Nightengale I might be more intrigued. I know he has reported this previously but I don’t remember the words “very aggressive” attached to it before. If we wind up getting Clevinger I can’t believe that May won’t be part of the deal. I still don’t think we trade Lux as part of any deal.

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    1. I agree with your last two sentences. I’d think Gonsolin would be liklier to be included in the package for Clevinger than May. Nevertheless, Nightengale might be exaggerating a bit. Maybe Friedman ran into Chernoff at the gas station and exchanged pleasantries. I heard that the Indians would need to be “completely blown away” to part with either Clevinger or Lindor.

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      1. You don’t agree with my first two sentences? 🙂
        AF would definitely rather include Gonsolin than May but as you said, Chernoff would have to be blown away and I don’t see that happening without May as part of the deal. Not really sure how I feel about including May if we get Clevinger but I absolutely don’t want to see Lux traded.
        Maybe by being aggressive Nightengale meant that AF pushed Chernoff up against the gas pump and told him we wasn’t going to let him pump gas until the trade was made.

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      2. Some folks told me that while the Indians definitely like Ruiz, either May or Lux would need to be a centerpiece. I just don’t see a deal with Cleveland happening. For some reason, the Dodgers and Indians are constantly paired together every single year, but nothing ever happens.

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    2. I agree with that Jefe. I cannot see Lux as a part of any deal since they keep saying that Seager, not Pederson, is the piece they want to move the most. Me, I am a spectator, and I am not going to believe anything unless it is announced by the commissioners office. No use getting all atwitter over rumors. Nightingale hasn’t been right about anything since the civil war. Rosenthal and Heyman, I trust those guys. If anything happens, it would not be until after this weekend anyway. Indians said they wanted to evaluate the offers. And even that does not mean they make a trade. Any trade that includes May and Lux, is dumb.

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      3. We kid about him but he still has more sources than we do and although it seems like he’s wrong more often than right, he does hit on some of his scoops. So I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. And besides, saying that AF is being aggressive doesn’t mean we get either of those guys. It just means that Andrew is trying very hard. THAT I definitely believe.

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  3. One other thing, unless they get Clevinger in that trade, I do not trade May at all. If they got Lindor and Clevinger, they would not need Ryu. And with Lindor carrying a hefty price tag, a trade for Betts seems out of reach. They would really go over the Tax.,

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  4. This just came over the pipe on twitter. Passan says, and I think he has some cred, that the Dodgers are close to a 7 year deal for 90 million with Ryu. Has a lot of incentives and could be worth well over 100 million. Like I said, this is not confirmed, but Passan is pretty reliable. He also reports that the Orioles are close to signing Nick Castellanos.

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    1. 7 years? That’s hard to believe but is also very good for AAV. It drives the annual number way down. I find it hard to believe but Passan is another one of those guys who is right much more often than wrong.

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      1. He just tweeted me back. I said if it was true it would be a very good thing, and he said it was true, and they are pretty close. Only thing that would seem to derail it would be a guaranteed offer from some other club.

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  5. Didn’t see the Castellanos thing on my first read of your comment. That’s also hard to believe since he keeps on stating he wants to play for a contender. They would really have to overpay to get him but maybe that’s exactly what they’re going to do.

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  6. If we are going to get their best they are going to expect to get our best in return. That is May and Lux. If Seager and or Joc are included we may get away with only May leaving. I too will believe any of this only when I see it.

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  7. Castelanos would put up some great numbers in that stadium, that’s great for fantasy baseball, but I don’t understand why they would sign him when they are in a rebuild.
    Wouldn’t it be something to sign Ryu, and still get Clevenger. Before you say it bear, I know I’m dreaming, but that’s what the off season is for.😀

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  8. Bear, when you have a minute could you please go back and confirm that you saw those Passan comments on twitter and that they were from THE Jeff Passan. I went to twitter and can’t find any comments from him today on either Ryu or Castellanos and since I think both of those comments are suspect would you humor me and check it out? Maybe it’s someone pretending to be JP. Thanks.

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  9. Yeah, the guys a fake. Uses Passan’s pic and has almost the same twitter site…that being said, Heyman is saying the 3 main teams in on Ryu are the Angels, Dodgers and Padres. My bad, sorry guys…

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  10. Dodgers of the decade according to the Dodgers web site. …Kersh, Jansen, Turner, Greinke, Kemp, Ethier, Bellinger, Gonzalez, Ryu, Seager, with an honorable mention to Puig…..yea, nay anyone???

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      1. I would agree, but I also think they believe he will help with his knowledge of that division,, and Ryu heading east seems a little far fetched. Anaheim. Seattle, and SD would be more logical for him

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      2. I can’t imagine any GM would take on Price’s entire contract unless Betts was part of the deal, and one year of Betts really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for the Jays.

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  13. Dodger players sent David Freese a retirement gift. A custom made Fender Stratocaster painted with the colors and logo’s of the 4 teams he played for, Cards, Pirates, Angels and Dodgers. Pretty cool looking too.

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      1. I have a tele squire thinline. A 6 string acoustic electric Ovation legend, and a Mitchell 6 string acoustic electric, 3 amps, a bunch of cords and mics. A phase shifter and more picks than I care to count. I used to have a beautiful Ovation 12 string acoustic electric slimline, Cost 1800 new. It was white with gold tuning keys. Awesome guitar.

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      3. Thanks. I love the thinline. Lighter than a traditional tele. Squires are just as good as Fender’s if you have a little work done to them. Mine was fine straight from the factory. Over the last 9 years since I retired, I have had some Epiphone’s both the Les Paul Jr and the classic Les Paul. A couple of their acoustics. and a 12 string Ovation that separated at the bridge when I first moved. Got a total refund from Guitar Center. Got a bunch of stuff I needed.

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      6. I played with a Wilson A2000 Dual Hinge for 25 years, I gave it to my son. My back up was dual post A2000. I still have it. I swung a Meathead for years until the DeMarini’s came out. Those bats changed my offensive game.

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  14. I think it’s starting to get ridiculous that AF can’t get a deal done with Ryu when he himself said a starting pitcher is one of his biggest needs. 4/$80 for a #2-3 type quality starter is a steal in today’s game. This isn’t even accounting the fact that Ryu image been in the system before and is loved by his teammates so he’s a positive in the clubhouse. Could AF really think that highly of himself to think Ryu should give him a home team discount? He probably thinks he should get a 3/$45 deal or something.

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  15. Ryu gone, not much left out there except scraps. Lindor-Cleivinger trade would cost them a bundle in prospects, and Betts-Price puts them over the tax. Schlemmings are jumping into the sea!

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      1. I hear Kazmir has been on a throwing program and is feeling really terrific. Also, he’s only asking for three years and 60 million.
        If AF had signed Ryu I would have been ready to believe that nothing else big was coming. Now, I’m really excited to see what major move Olaf the Magnificent has up his sleeve. It’s going to be amazing……………………………….but just in case, I’m working on my concession speech.

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  17. Well if he can get Lindor and Clevinger without giving up Lux then he’s a magician. If it doesn’t get done in next 2 days then I think the deal is dead and AF gonna take a beating.

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    2. Going to take a beating? Dude, he is being roasted and toasted on every blog you can think of. The blue faithful are tossing boulders, not stones on facebook. And most of those people on twitter are so gullible. Rumor surfaced a little while ago that a deal was done with the Indians for Lindor and Clevinger and that Joc and Seager and a prospect package was heading to Cleveland. But they did not cite any sources. There is no chatter about anything like that on MLBtraderumors, who was the first to announce the Ryu deal. Believe it. AF has hung the Schlemmings out to dry.

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  19. I hope we don’t do something stupid out of desperation now.
    AF can’t still go out to get some more bullpen help like Betances, Harris, Stammen, or Hader, and that would make the team better, then acquire whatever the team needs at the dead line.

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    1. I agree with you Keith. If he doesn’t pull off a trade for a good starter he may just turn to building a stronger bullpen. Or he might do nothing. After all, he did say they could start the 2020 season without making any changes. Of course, he’s just lost a guy who finished second in the Cy Young so I would consider that a change. I’ll be fascinated to see what he does or doesn’t do over the next few weeks. I haven’t given up on him yet.

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  22. You have to give credit to Scott Boras, I know we all hate him, but he played this offseason perfectly, he made sure who signed, at which time, to get all of his big clients quite a bit more money than the media predicted. After watching the way he manipulated the market, and all of the hot shot GMs, presidents, and owners, it’s pretty obvious who the smartest man in the room was. He single handedly rolled back a lot of the gains the owners have been making over The last couple of years, suppressing players salaries, and contracts to any player over thirty.

    I think my biggest fear right now, after the Ryu signing is AF gives the Indians Seager, Lux, May, and whoever else the Indians want, to get Lindor, and Clevinger. The Dodgers would be really good with those two, but how much of the future would the team have to sacrifice. If AF can get a deal that doesn’t wipe out our farm system, go for a trade with the Indians, otherwise I hope he can strengthen the BP.

    I wonder how much the Dodgers knowledge of Ryu’s arm injury played into this, the team Never seemed fully into bringing Ryu back. AF has resigned his own FAs in the past, when he wanted them, and 4 years 80 mil seems not to far out of line, considering how salaries have jumped this off season. I guess we’ll never know how hard the dodgers tried to get him.

    Just some random thoughts on a Monday morning when all my construction sites are too wet to work on. I should do some paper work but I’d rather talk Dodgers with you guys.

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    1. Relax Keith. Lux is going no where. Lindor is not coming to the Dodgers, and Cleveland has no intention of trading Clevinger. They already traded Kluber and trading Clevinger weakens their team. May, Gonsolin and anyone else is not going to make them better. They have a problem anyway because their competition is the division is loading up. White Sox are one of the most active teams this winter. AF will do what he always does, sign a bunch of reclamation projects. They will go into the season with a rotation of Kersh, Buehler, Maeda and a cast of thousands. They are banking on the kids producing. I myself think that is somewhat risky. The 2 you would figure have the best shot to open in the rotation, Urias and May, have a total of 32 MLB starts between them. Plenty of talent, and some nasty stuff. But not much experience being the man. The Dodger farm system is loaded…..with potential. Gray, Downs, White, Ruiz, all supposedly bode well for the future. But it is often that guy who comes from no where, like a kid named Piazza, who becomes the star. The vaunted talent fades away like an old painting. They are team of utility players, no stars save Buehler, Cody and Kersh. Turner is another year older, Muncy is a good player, but not a great one. Verdugo coming off an injury is still not doing any baseball related drills. They are lefty heavy, not very athletic, except a couple of them. There is no one in that lineup who strikes any kind of fear in the opposition. Oh, and they never made an offer to Ryu at all.

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  24. Wouldn’t it be ironic if Friedman made a huge trade that even you Bear would have to admit was a major move, and then everyone here agreed that we hated the trade.

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    1. I don’t want to see that Cleveland trade. I’d like to see Lindor in our lineup and Clevinger in our rotation but knowing Cleveland would be nuts to do it screams loudly that if they did it was because Friedman offered too much.

      I’m fine with where the team is. I predict at the All Star break the stadium will look beautiful and the team will be in first place.

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  25. That’s why we’re the fans and he’s the president. He’s still the smartest guy in the room, certainly in this room! If we win a WS this year some will still,say that we’re not a great team until we win 2 in a row! No sense adding anything but elite talent to this team. It’s not over until July31st. Let’s root that Cleveland, Boston and Colorado have bad years in2020!

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    2. That is not really true. Do you know how smart people in this room really are? There might be a genius among us. He has the reins, it is what he does with them that counts. So far he has done nothing to change the status quo. Nothing he has done has led to the elusive title. If he was so damn smart,. he might have figured out how to win one. He is very cautious and does not really do anything on impulse. He uses all the data he has available and makes decisions on that. He is not a gut feeling kind of guy, and I would guarantee you he is not going to give up more than what he deems is the value of any player. To AF, Ryu is not a 20 million dollar a year pitcher, although the numbers say he is because that is what he got. Dodgers never made Ryu an offer according to most sources. And certainly not a counter offer. AF is more analytical than smart. I am not saying he is a dummy. I am just saying he is not the genius he is proclaimed to be. Look at how many division winning Braves teams Kasten was the head of. He is definitely the King of Division titles. 7 with the Dodgers and 14 with Atlanta. And ONE championship. Friedman has none. To the fan base all of his moves have led to NOTHING YET. They do not care about what it costs. They want that title. The one LA has not seen since 1988. Anything less is a waste of time for them. Oh, they will be entertained by the players he puts on the field. They will cheer, drink their 20 dollar beers, spend massive amounts of money to watch the team most likely make it to the playoffs. And then get slapped in the face when the team comes up short in the post season again. Why? Because for all of his so called analytic acumen, Andrew Friedman has not won a damn ring.

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  26. Wow…here is one you do not hear every day. Rich Hill and his wife were arrested yesterday at the Patriots game and charged with disorderly conduct. Apparently she was trying to enter the stadium with an over sized bag and was refused entry and ordered to leave, when she tried to enter a different gate she was arrested. Hill then intervened and tried to prevent the cops from putting her in the van. He resisted officers and was also arrested. They were arraigned, and the charges were reduced and they paid a total of 1,000.00 in fines. Had the charges stayed the same, Hill would have been charged with a felony, resisting arrest….way to go Dick Mountain! He is in Boston to receive the Conigliaro award. I doubt he resigns with the Sox now,.

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      2. Yeah he was lucky. He could have been charged with multiple felonies, 90% of which were made up, and had to have plea bargained it down to 20 years. Or he could have been shot on the spot.

        Oh wait, he’s rich.

        Never mind.

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  27. It comes down to this guys. I am sick and tired of watching AF chase his tail around the room and never catch the damn thing. Hey, if he proves me wrong, great, I will say I was wrong. If the team lays an egg, I am not the type to say I told you so. I am blunt to a fault and I do not pull punches. Nor do I think with my heart. I knew he would not sign one single significant player and that has happened. Might he make a trade? Most likely. But I do not think it will be the trade everyone is wishing for, simply because of the value he places on his own pieces. I look at his modus operandi, and I honestly see a guy who does not take risks. Trading prospects for Betts and Price is very risky, won’t happen. Lindor? Only if he gives in to what Cleveland demands. Not likely. He is what he is. His success is limited to the regular season so far. Of course, you have to get there to even have a chance. And even though they have 7 straight division titles, that was almost cut short in 18. They beat the Rockies by the skin of their teeth. And their big pick up, Machado, was less than stellar. He was actually pretty pedestrian. No where near what he was as an Oriole. His mid season deals have not yielded the results he or the fans have hopped they would. So, if he stands pat, and they make moves at the deadline, what makes anyone here believe it will get them over the hump? I for one am not convinced that AF has figured that out yet.

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  28. Off to see the new Star Wars movie…..The Rise of Skywalker. Only cost 5 bucks to see a movie on Monday’s here. A lot cheaper than a beer at the old ball yard.

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