LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Dodgers say they’re looking forward to watching Ryu Hyun-jin pitch for them after signing the top South Korean left-hander to a 6-year deal worth a reported $36m yesterday.
“We are excited to welcome Ryu Hyun-jin to Los Angeles and the United States, continuing the tradition of Korean pitchers with the Dodger organization,” Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said in a statement.
“The Dodgers continue to show the commitment to signing players from Asia and other international areas where baseball is played at the highest levels. We are looking forward to watching Ryu pitch for the franchise.”
The Dodgers confirmed they had inked Ryu to a 6-year deal, although their statement did not mention the $36m worth of the contract reported by mlb.com.
The Ryu deal beat the afternoon deadline to end the 30-day exclusive negotiating window that the Dodgers had won by posting a fee of $25.7m, which will now go to Ryu’s Korean team, the Hanwha Eagles.
That was reportedly the third-largest posting fee for such negotiating rights, following Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish’s worth $51.7m and his compatriot Daisuke Matsuzaka’s, worth $51.1m.
The Boston Red Sox eventually gave Matsuzaka a six-year, $52m contract. The Texas Rangers inked Darvish to a six-year, $60m contract.
Ryu has spent his entire seven-year professional career in Korea, compiling a 98-52 record with a 2.80 earned run average.
He also helped South Korea to a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by going 2-0 with a 1.04 ERA in two starts.
Ryu was the first player to win the Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year honors in the same season in Korea, when he went 18-6.
He averaged 15 wins a season until this year, when the Eagles finished last and he had only nine wins, along with a 2.66 ERA. REUTERS
