Dodgers Need to Make Locking Down Hyun-Jin Ryu a Priority After Missing Out on Madison Bumgarner
The Los Angeles Dodgers are paying Clayton Kershaw $31 million in 2020. Aside from Kersh, the rotation isn't due to haul in very much money in the upcoming campaign.
There is money to be spent and the Dodgers missed out on a golden opportunity to sign Madison Bumgarner. Now the team is seeking to salvage the offseason and come away with another top pitcher to pair with Kershaw and the emerging Walker Buehler.
Re-signing Hyun-Jin Ryu appears to be the obvious move.
1) Not sure why the Dodgers didn’t offer this deal, it’s an absolute steal
— Blake Harris (@BlakeHarrisTBLA) December 15, 2019
2) They must be confident they’re bringing back Hyun-Jin Ryu
3) If they don’t, oh boy... https://t.co/14TBQ3peoO
Ryu had a 2.32 ERA in 2019 and finished second in NL Cy Young Award voting. He only allowed 24 walks and struck out 163 batters.
Smaller market teams may be hesitant to offer a multi-year deal to a pitcher set to turn 33 at the start of the season, however the Dodgers are not such a team and have the money to bring back the left-hander.
Bumgarner ended up signing a relatively cheap deal with the D-Backs, and there's a chance that could set the tone for an even smaller deal for Ryu. If that's the case, there's really no excuse for the Dodgers not bringing him back.
Whenever a free agent signs with a team that doesn’t have a glaring need at their position, all the other free agents at said position get much more leverage.
— Devan Fink (@DevanFink) December 15, 2019
Hyun-Jin Ryu could come out quite well.
Teams sometimes think new is better. In this case, Ryu is the top option staring the Dodgers front office right in the face. Letting him walk now will only hurt the team in 2020.