Blue Jays Sign LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu

The Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to terms with free agent LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu on a four-year contract (US $80,000,000).

Ryu, 32, led the Majors with a 2.32 ERA last season and finished second in National League Cy Young voting, going 14-5 while pitching 182.2 innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Incheon, South Korea, native made his first career All-Star appearance in 2019 and was the starting pitcher for the NL All-Star Team. He finished the season ranked among NL leaders in strikeout to-walk ratio (2nd, 6.79), WHIP (3rd, 1.01), opponents’ OBP (3rd, .263), fewest home runs allowed per 9.0 innings (2nd, 0.84) and base runners allowed per 9.0 innings (3rd, 9.26). Ryu is set to become the third Korean-born player ever to take the field as a Blue Jay, joining Rob Refsnyder and Seunghwan Oh. His 54 regular-season MLB victories are tied for the second most ever by a Korean-born pitcher. The 6-3, 255 lb. left-hander signed as an international free agent with Dodgers in 2012 and has a career 2.98 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP over six seasons.