This winter’s MLB free agency class has seen much more activity than the past few years, and because of that, the best starting pitcher still available on the market is Hyun-Jin Ryu, who was a Cy Young Award candidate for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019.
A number of teams went into the offseason with a need for starting pitching, and Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Zack Wheeler, Madison Bumgarner, and most-recently Dallas Keuchel, have all been the beneficiaries by signing lucrative, multi-year contracts before the New Year.
Ryu was next on the list and it was recently reported he has been in contact with as many as seven teams. The Dodgers, L.A. Angels, Toronto Blue Jays and Minnesota Twins are all teams that have expressed interest in signing him this offseason.
According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, Ryu agreed to a four-year contract with Toronto:
Breaking: Ryu to Jays. 80M, 4 years.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 23, 2019
This marks Ryu’s first time pitching for an American League team, and according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports, his deal includes a no-trade clause:
Ryu also has full no-trade clause
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 23, 2019
The Blue Jays signing Ryu is a mild surprise, though it was recently reported they had him among their top targets. The addition presumably takes Toronto out of the running for a potential David Price trade, which was one possibility that surfaced Sunday.
The Dodgers long seemed like a wild card in all of this as Ryu has made it clear in the past that he is comfortable playing in Los Angeles. However, he recently said any interest from the Dodgers had not been relayed by agent Scott Boras.
Ryu’s contract is similar to the ones that Bumgarner and Keuchel received from the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox, respectively. The Dodgers still have plenty of money to spend, but they may be more inclined to use that financial flexibility in a trade.
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