Although free agency this offseason largely centered around Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg, Zack Wheeler quickly came off the board when he agreed to a five-year, $118 million contract with the New York Mets.
And while most anticipated Cole signing before Strasburg, the opposite happened when the Washington Nationals retained one of their aces by coming to terms on a seven-year, $245 million deal. Cole then set a record with his nine-year, $324 million contract with the New York Yankees.
That left Madison Bumgarner, Dallas Keuchel and Hyun-Jin Ryu as the next tier of starting pitchers available. The group was pared down this week when Bumgarner agreed to a five-year, $85 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
As Ryu continues to field interest from multiple teams, he is expected to sign for at least four years and receive a higher average annual value than Bumgarner, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic:
Expectation within industry is Ryu will exceed Bumgarner’s $17M average annual value in deal of at least four years. Two industry people with knowledge of starting-pitching market predict minimum four years, $80M. Teams still in need of starter include #BlueJays; #Angels; #Twins.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 17, 2019
Ryu is two years older than Bumgarner and though he does have a lengthy injury history, did put together back-to-back impressive seasons. His bounce-back 2018 campaign was followed by accepting the qualifying offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers and delaying free agency for another year.
Ryu then put together a Cy Young-worthy season and now figures to land a final lucrative deal of his career. He joined the Dodgers out of the KBO on a six-year, $36 million contract in December 2012.
The Dodgers appear to be in the market for starting pitching, but it’s unclear how much they are prioritizing re-signing Ryu. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman recently spoke highly of the southpaw and admitted there is interest in a reunion.
However, Ryu said he’s yet to hear of any negotiations from agent Scott Boras. Furthermore, L.A. is believed to be pursuing a trade for Francisco Lindor that would also include Mike Clevinger.
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