Hyun-Jin Ryu signs with Blue Jays 4yr 80 million

[IntentionalHBP]

Per heyman:

[Ennder]

Risky for a 32 year old pitcher but this is one that seems reasonable.

[3and2Fastball]

This is one pitcher I would’ve taken a risk for, that (clearly) Mark wouldn’t...

[mattyo]

Maybe not as big a number as the market so far might have suggested.

[SRB]

That's surprising!

[brewmann04]

Well all the pitchers i wanted are gone now just get us 3rd baseman David.

[KeithStone53151]

The blue Jays might just be able to make things interesting in their division, if their young talent continues to break out.

[wallus]

This is one I would have done, oh well. I always root for the Jays in the AL East.

[Jaylyn]

Hey I got one right! Ryu got exactly what I thought he would get, it's a christmas miracle!! Hope for the Jays that he can stay healthy.

[TJseven7]

The Blue Jays? 4 years is a long time. He's good, but that's 33-36 on a pitcher with 44 starts in the 3 years prior to last years 30. It's not like he's regularly putting up 32-35 starts a year.

 

This one seems a slight bit under what the market is dictating right now. Probably due to the 15 starts per year in 2016-2018. That's still a lot though and I'm good with not spending 20 mil on a guy who is coming off a 30 start season which he hadn't done since 2013.

 

2017-2019 he averaged under 25 starts a year including the post season.

Can I get an 8/1 on Rich Hill? He's pitched roughly 1.5 less starts than Ryu over the last 3 years and carried ERAs of 3.38 3.87 and 3.07. While Ryu's 3.77 1.97 and 2.32 is clearly better,

Ryu's 4.87 ERA in his last 5 playoff starts vs Hills 8 starts at 2.43 is not.

[Devinep]

I’d think Ryu would want to go to a competitive team, and he’s one of the only pitchers to not get more than most anticipated. It’ll be gross if, after 2 playoff seasons, the Brewers trim payroll.

[JosephC]

Ryu was probably as healthy as he'll ever be over the last three seasons, and he still only made an average of 23 starts over those seasons (so he's missing approximately 30% of his starts). No question the guy is an elite guy when healthy, but he's hurt just way too much. IMO, going four years on this guy is a bad decision by Toronto.

[areacodes]

I’d think Ryu would want to go to a competitive team, and he’s one of the only pitchers to not get more than most anticipated. It’ll be gross if, after 2 playoff seasons, the Brewers trim payroll.

 

I don’t understand this type of feeling/thought process.

 

If the Brewers go out and get another FA or two or make a trade to bring in players who improve the team, but still have a lower payroll while projecting to have the same or better quality of team (I think somebody posted a tweet that shows they already have the same projected fWAR next year as they had last year for less). How is that gross?

 

Wouldn’t it be better to have the same or better team for less allowing us to take on a contract at mid-season if we need to to improve the team? Why is payroll flexibility gross?

[wildcat83]

It’ll be gross if, after 2 playoff seasons, the Brewers trim payroll.

 

It’s been argued in every thread this off season, so not to derail another one, but if the Brewers actually came out in the red last year it’s not gross to trim payroll it’s running a business responsibly.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I’d think Ryu would want to go to a competitive team, and he’s one of the only pitchers to not get more than most anticipated. It’ll be gross if, after 2 playoff seasons, the Brewers trim payroll.

 

Let me know when running a higher payroll equals having a better team. The Brewers have made some cost-cutting moves, but the moves they've made have been with the goal of staying competitive. They are obviously taking a few leaps of faith, so we'll see what happens. But right now this is looking like a pretty competitive squad, as long as they get solid starting pitching.

[AmFamFan]

Anybody know off hand the tax implications of Toronto vs a US team? Could that have an effect on the contract negotiations and maybe explain why the numbers came in slightly lower than expected?

[Devinep]

I’d think Ryu would want to go to a competitive team, and he’s one of the only pitchers to not get more than most anticipated. It’ll be gross if, after 2 playoff seasons, the Brewers trim payroll.

 

Let me know when running a higher payroll equals having a better team. The Brewers have made some cost-cutting moves, but the moves they've made have been with the goal of staying competitive. They are obviously taking a few leaps of faith, so we'll see what happens. But right now this is looking like a pretty competitive squad, as long as they get solid starting pitching.

 

My point is the financial flexibility should be used to go after a free agent or 2 while there is 1) an open competitive window, and 2) not a lot in the farm system to trade away to get talent.

 

Also, if you don’t think payroll is a huge factor in team success, take a look at the World Series favorites right now and World Series winners in history

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

 

Also, if you don’t think payroll is a huge factor in team success, take a look at the World Series favorites right now and World Series winners in history

 

I think the fairytale is believing that the Brewers are ever going to be one of those teams. Also, there are plenty of teams out there that have proven year after year that spending money doesn't equate to success. Therefore, it would stand to reason that saving money doesn't equal failure.

[adambr2]

I’d think Ryu would want to go to a competitive team, and he’s one of the only pitchers to not get more than most anticipated. It’ll be gross if, after 2 playoff seasons, the Brewers trim payroll.

 

Let me know when running a higher payroll equals having a better team. The Brewers have made some cost-cutting moves, but the moves they've made have been with the goal of staying competitive. They are obviously taking a few leaps of faith, so we'll see what happens. But right now this is looking like a pretty competitive squad, as long as they get solid starting pitching.

 

Well, there's definitely a correlation between higher payroll and winning. It's not a guarantee of success, you still have to invest wisely, but it's no secret or coincidence why the Dodgers are always among the teams to beat in the NL - they have boatloads of money to spend.

 

That said, I agree with the premise that was stated that they shouldn't just make moves to keep pace with last year's payroll. That's spending money for the sake of spending money. They have to time their payroll spending with efficienct spending. If this isn't an efficient free agent market for them to get involved with, there's no sense in throwing around money just to not trim payroll -- perhaps there will be an opportunity and means in the next offseason to spend $150M in the short term.

[3and2Fastball]

Wouldn’t it be better to have the same or better team for less allowing us to take on a contract at mid-season if we need to to improve the team? Why is payroll flexibility gross?

 

It would be better to be a better team. If there is payroll flexibility at mid-season, that is great. However we have repeatedly seen the Brewers have to overuse their top pitchers in the 1st Half of a season which effects their performance at the end of the season.

 

Personally I think Ryu would have been a great roll of the dice. I think the Brewers need more TOR pitching. It seems to me that there is a bigger chance of the Brewers being not quite good enough to be a legit World Series contender than we are in danger of overdoing it with payroll.

 

Thankfully we have David Stearns at the helm. He still might be able to craft a team that can win it all. He’s shown the ability to get the Brewers a superstar or two and make lemonade out of the lemons he’s limited to in payroll.

[Devinep]

 

Also, if you don’t think payroll is a huge factor in team success, take a look at the World Series favorites right now and World Series winners in history

 

I think the fairytale is believing that the Brewers are ever going to be one of those teams. Also, there are plenty of teams out there that have proven year after year that spending money doesn't equate to success. Therefore, it would stand to reason that saving money doesn't equal failure.

 

I don’t think the Brewers will be one of those teams though. But that doesn’t mean they should cut by millions after 2 playoff seasons. Non-tenders, bargain buys are fine. But also to get a quality player or 2 to keep playoff chances high

[clancyphile]

This is one pitcher I would’ve taken a risk for, that (clearly) Mark wouldn’t...

 

I'm glad they didn't.

 

At best, and when healthy, Ryu is a borderline-TOR pitcher. But 2019 is the outlier in terms of health. Let Toronto pay $20 million a year for 20-25 starts a season. I'd rather bank on Burnes rebounding and Peralta harnessing his change and slider than risk an albatross contract.

[clancyphile]

 

Also, if you don’t think payroll is a huge factor in team success, take a look at the World Series favorites right now and World Series winners in history

 

I think the fairytale is believing that the Brewers are ever going to be one of those teams. Also, there are plenty of teams out there that have proven year after year that spending money doesn't equate to success. Therefore, it would stand to reason that saving money doesn't equal failure.

 

I need think the Brewers will be one of those teams though. But that doesn’t mean they should cut by millions after 2 playoff seasons. Non-tenders, bargain buys are fine. But also to get a quality player or 2 to keep playoff chances high

 

Anderson is a quality player - he posted some very good numbers. Yes, it's 1 year, $5 million, but there is a higher floor than Ryu, albeit a lower ceiling. Lindblom is also a quality signing - with very good performance in KBO. If he is even 80% of what he was in KBO, that's a huge boost. Urias is a quality shortstop who can pair with Hiura.

 

There have been quality acquisitions. No big names, but good players.

[JosephC]

Anderson is a quality player - he posted some very good numbers. Yes, it's 1 year, $5 million, but there is a higher floor than Ryu, albeit a lower ceiling. Lindblom is also a quality signing - with very good performance in KBO. If he is even 80% of what he was in KBO, that's a huge boost. Urias is a quality shortstop who can pair with Hiura.

 

There have been quality acquisitions. No big names, but good players.

 

Anderson does not have a higher floor than Ryu. He has the same injury concerns.

[3and2Fastball]

Ryu has averaged 22 starts in the last 2 years with a combined 2.21 ERA with a 184 ERA+

 

He is, in my opinion, the exact pitcher you roll the dice on at 4 years $80 million... the exact pitcher you slash your payroll for like they did... they are never going to be able to do the big Cole or Strasburg contracts but they could have afforded Ryu, or Bumgarner, or Keuchel.

 

We’ll see what other tricks Stearns has up his sleeve, maybe he signs Donaldson (doubt it!). Maybe he makes a significant trade or something...