Dickerson, Marlins agree to deal Ryu gives Blue Jays ‘ace’ to pair with talented young core
TORONTO, Dec 29, (AP): HyunJin Ryu is the ace the Toronto Blue Jays needed to pair with a lineup flush with “baseball royalty.”
That’s the view agent Scott Boras has of the four-year, $80 million deal that brought the Korean lefthander north of the border.
Ryu agreed to join the Jays last weekend, then flew in from Korea for an introductory news conference, greeting a live television audience with a wide smile and a few words in each of his new home country’s official languages.
“Hello, Canada,” Ryu said. “Bonjour. I’m happy to be here and I’m going to make the Toronto Blue Jays proud.”
Ryu was 14-5 with a major league-best 2.32 ERA for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. He started for the National League in his first All-Star Game and finished second in Cy Young Award voting to New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom.
Ryu’s is the secondbiggest free agent deal in Blue Jays history, trailing only the fiveyear, $82 million contract former general manager Alex Anthopoulos gave catcher Russell Martin in November 2014.
“This is the next step in what we feel is a plan to build a sustainable championship team,” Blue Jays President Mark Shapiro said.
General manager Ross Atkins praised Ryu for his “insane athleticism” and his ability to get outs with different pitches in all four corners of the strike zone.
“You truly are fun to watch play,” Atkins told his new ace.
Toronto needed a dependable starter to stabilize its rotation and help get the most from its crop of young talent, including four sons of former players, a group Boras regards with regal admiration.
“It was very clear from our conversations with Mark that the Blue Jays were willing to move forward and start building a base to complement the young players they have, and advance the royal youth to a level of championship play,” Boras said.
Now, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. have a starter they can rely on to keep them in games.
“We got one of the best pitchers in baseball,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “We’re going to have a chance to win every time he takes the mound.”
Toronto isn’t the first place where Ryu has teamed with with a talented young core.
“When Hyun-Jin played for the Dodgers, you saw this happen with (Corey) Seager, with (Cody) Bellinger,” Boras said. “We certainly expect the royal youth of the Blue Jays continues to grow at that pace.”
Three or four other teams were in the hunt, Boras said, including the Dodgers, who had “competitive interest” in retaining Ryu. No suitor was more tenacious than Toronto.
“There’s not a week that went by that Ross wasn’t calling,” Boras said.
That persistence made an impact on Ryu.
“Toronto was one that first pursued me, and continued to pursue, and that’s why I’m here,” he said through a translator.
Ryu is the fourth pitcher to join the Blue Jays so far this offseason. Toronto signed right-hander Tanner Roark to a $24 million, two-year deal, acquired right-hander Chase Anderson from Milwaukee, and signed Japanese right-hander Shun Yamaguchi from the Yomiuri Giants.
No starter won more than six games for Toronto in 2019, and the rotation ranked 22nd out of 30 teams with a 5.25 ERA. The Blue Jays went 67-95, finishing fourth in the AL East for the third straight season.
Left fielder Corey Dickerson agreed to terms Saturday on a $17.5 million, two-year contract with the
Miami Marlins, according to a person familiar with the deal.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not yet been announced.
Dickerson battled injuries last season but batted .304 with 12 homers, 59 RBIs and a .906 OPS in 78 games for the Phillies and
Pirates. He’s a nine-year veteran and a career .286 hitter from the left side who made the American League All-Star team with the
Rays in 2017, when he hit a careerbest 27 homers.
Dickerson becomes the frontrunner to start in left. Other contenders include veteran newcomer
Matt Kemp, Harold Ramirez and Austin Dean.
The Toronto Blue Jays agreed to a $4.85 million, two-year contract Saturday with veteran pitcher
Shun Yamaguchi of Japan. The 32-year-old right-hander was made available to all major league clubs this offseason after he was posted by his Japanese team.
Last season, he pitched 170.0 innings with a 2.91 ERA, 60 walks and 188 strikeouts over 26 starts for the Yomiuri Giants. Yamaguchi has played 14 pro seasons in Japan, where he has a 64-58 record and 3.35 ERA over 427 appearances for
Yokohama, DeNA and Yomiuri. He is to become the sixth Japanese-born player to play for the
Blue Jays and the fourth pitcher to do so, joining Mike Nakamura (2004), Tomo Ohka (2007) and Ryota Igarashi (2012).