Published : Nov. 11, 2012 - 20:11
The Los Angeles Dodgers submitted a $25.7 million bid to sign Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin of the Hanwha Eagles, Major League Baseball announced Saturday.
Ryu, 25, is a seven-time All-Star for the Eagles and one of the most dominant starters in the Korean Baseball Organization, the country’s pro baseball league.
The Eagles announced Saturday they had accepted the Dodgers’ bid. The Dodgers now have an exclusive 30-day window to negotiate a contract with the left-handed pitcher and his agent, Scott Boras.
The posting bid for Ryu, which was actually $25,737,737, is the highest bid ever for a Korean baseball player and also ranks fourth among Asian players, behind $51.7 million for Yu Darvish, $51.1 million for Daisuke Matsuzaka and $26 million for Kei Igawa.
Ryu joined the KBO in 2006 as a second overall draft pick out of high school and made an immediate impact, becoming the first player to win both the MVP and the Rookie of the Year honors in his debut season. He averaged almost 15 wins a season from 2006 to 2010, but was limited to nine wins this year. He has a career 2.80 ERA in the KBO.
By Oh Kyu-wook (
596story@heraldcorp.com)