Ryu Hyun-jin moved to Okinawa, Japan, on the 8th. Leaving Korea, where the cold is raging in the middle of winter, he is speeding up preparations for the season under the mild climate of Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost region. Hanwha juniors will be with Ryu Hyun-jin again this time. Nam Ji-min and Kim Ki-joong joined Jang Min-jae, who played with Ryu Hyun-jin during the Hanwha era. On top of that, another Hanwha pitcher Lee Tae-yang will pair up with Lee Min-woo and meet Ryu Hyun-jin in Okinawa.
Ryu Hyun-jin, who first started off-season Okinawa camp with Jang Min-jae ahead of the 2016 season, moved to Okinawa in early January and spent the winter with Hanwha juniors, except for marriage, the COVID-19 pandemic, and injury rehabilitation.
Jang Min-jae, Kim Min-woo in 2017, Jang Min-jae, Lee Tae-yang in 2019, Jang Min-jae, and Jinyoung Kim in 2020 joined Ryu Hyun-jin at the Okinawa mini camp. They moved to Jeju Island between 2021 and 2022, when foreigners were restricted from entering Japan due to COVID-19. Jang Min-jae, Jinyoung Kim, and Kim Ki-tak were training members for Hanwha. Lee Tae-yang, then a member of SSG, also joined Ryu’s camp to prepare for the season. 안전한 파워볼사이트
Jang Min-jae, who joins Ryu as his training partner every winter, said, “It is not easy to provide financial support every year no matter how much money you have. I am always grateful to him.”
It is the first time in Ryu’s baseball career that his team has yet to decide which team he belongs to. Having entered the Major League with a six-year contract of 36 million U.S. dollars after posting posts in the 2012 season, Ryu has accepted the Dodgers’ offer of 17.9 million dollars annually after the 2018 season.
After the 2019 season, Ryu Hyun-jin, who came out as a free agent, completed his contract before the end of the year. On Dec. 28 (Korea Standard Time), he officially signed a four-year, $80 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays and received special treatment. He welcomed the new year of 2020 as Toronto’s ace, but four years have passed since then.
Short-term contracts are expected to earn around 10 million U.S. dollars per year. Among the top 30 FA starters, Michael Waka (Kansas City Royals, two-year contracts worth 32 million dollars), Sean Manaea (New York Mets, two-year contracts worth 28 million dollars), Kenta Maeda (Detroit Tigers, two-year contracts worth 24 million dollars), Frankie Montas (Cincinnati Reds, 16 million dollars), Luis Severino (New York Mets, 13 million dollars), Kyle Gibson (St. Louis Cardinals, 13 million dollars), Lance Lynn (St. Louis, 11 million dollars per year), Wade Miley (Millywood Brewers, 8.5 million dollars), and Martin Perez (Pittsburgh Pirates, 8 million dollars) are expected to be treated similarly to Ryu.
The Mets, who had been keeping an eye on Ryu, took another left-hander Manaea, reducing their destination by one, but they still have five more weeks until the spring training begins in mid-February. The remaining top FA starters, including Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, and Imana Shota, have yet to decide their future. Better offers may come as time goes by. Scott Boras, the “super agent,” is also the type that drags negotiations into a long-term battle. Hanwha, its former team, which is expecting Ryu’s return, has not set a deadline, saying, “As long as I come, I’m happy.” Regardless of which offer comes in and the decision is made, there is no reason to hurry.