Veteran lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu is heading back to Korea, with Yonhap News reporting that the 36-year-old is set to sign a four-year, $12.7 million (in U.S. dollars) contract that will make him the highest-paid player in the KBO. MLB teams will always need more competent pitching, and Ryu reportedly mulled offers from big-league teams before making his decision, but it’s hard to imagine him landing a multi-year deal in the States at this point in his career.
Hyun Jin Ryu is reportedly returning to the KBO, where he pitched 7 seasons and won MVP and Rookie of the Year in 2006.@jonmorosi | #MLBNHotStove pic.twitter.com/VJOb3Ijo7I
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 20, 2024
Ryu began his professional career with the Eagles, bursting onto the KBO scene with an 18-6 record and a 2.23 ERA over 201.2 innings as a 19-year-old — and becoming the league’s first player to win Rookie of the Year and MVP honors in the same year. From 2006-12, Ryu went 98-52 with a 2.80 ERA with the Eagles, and earning All-Star honors in each of his seven seasons in Korea. He parlayed that success into a shot in the States, signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the winter of 2012.
Ryu was a fan favorite in L.A., and despite missing all of the 2015 season and half of 2016 due to shoulder surgery, he eventually blossomed into one of the best pitchers in the league: Across 2018-19, he posted a 2.21 ERA with 252 strikeouts in 265 innings, finishing second in NL Cy Young voting in ‘19. That led to a mixed bag of a four-year, $80 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays in free agency; Ryu finished third in AL Cy Young voting in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, was serviceable in 2021, had his 2022 cut short due to Tommy John surgery and came back for 11 more solid starts last season.
In those 11 starts in 2023, Ryu was 3-3 with a 3.46 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 38 strikeouts against 14 walks in 52 innings. He struggled to find consistency and didn’t work deep into games, getting at least one out in the sixth inning just one time. It’s understandable that he struggled some coming off such a major surgery at his age, and we ranked him inside our top 50 free agents at the start of the offseason due to his deep arsenal, command and still-solid run prevention.
The Hanwha Eagles went 58-80 in 2023 and had the KBO’s second worst record. They went to the Korean Series in 2006, Ryu’s rookie year, but they’ve been one of the least successful KBO teams over the last two decades or so, missing the postseason in each of the last five years and 15 of the last 16. Ryu exits as MLB’s all-time leader among Korean-born pitchers with 18.9 WAR in 10 MLB seasons, narrowly edging out Chan-Ho Park (18.1 WAR) despite throwing over 900 fewer innings than Park in the Majors.
