Feb. 26, 5:58pm: The Toronto organization has announced the signing. He’ll earn $1.75MM for 2018, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter), with a $250K buyout on a $2MM option that vests upon seventy appearances. The deal also includes $1.5MM in possible incentives.
12:08pm: Oh has passed his physical, tweets Nicholson-Smith. The move, then, should be officially announced in the near future.
Feb. 25: The Blue Jays have agreed to sign right-hander Seung-hwan Oh, FanRag Sports’ Robert Murray reports (Twitter link). The deal is a one-year contract that will guarantee Oh $2MM in 2018, Sportsnet.ca’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports (Twitter links), plus there is a vesting option for 2019. Oh is a client of Rosenhaus Sports Representation.
The contract is contingent on Oh passing a physical, which could still be a notable obstacle given that a deal between Oh and the Rangers fell through earlier this month. The Rangers’ deal with Oh called for a $2.75MM guarantee, plus a $4.5MM club option (with a $250K buyout) for 2019. As per Sung Min Kim of the Sporting News (via Twitter), however, Oh’s MRI revealed some inflammation in his throwing elbow that wasn’t considered serious enough to scuttle the deal altogether, though the Rangers tried three times to re-work the terms. Oh’s representation didn’t want to re-open talks, and thus no contract was finalized.
Oh came to Major League Baseball in the 2015-16 offseason after 11 seasons as a top closer in both the Korean Baseball Organization and Nippon Professional Baseball. He made an immediate impact on the Cardinals’ bullpen, posting a 1.92 ERA, 11.6 K/9, and 5.72 K/BB rate over 79 2/3 innings and taking over the Cards’ closer job. Oh’s follow-up campaign, however, wasn’t nearly as successful, as his troubles with the home-run ball (1.5 HR/9) led to his removal from ninth-inning duty last summer. Beyond just the increase in homers, Oh also saw his grounder rate (40% to 28.7%), strikeout rate (down to 8.19 K/9), and swinging strike percentage (18% to 12.9%) drop from his 2016 numbers, and he posted a 4.10 ERA over 59 1/3 IP.
While it was a tough year for Oh, his stats didn’t crater to the point that a turn-around isn’t out of the question, or that his problems weren’t due to a normal sophomore slump. His hard-hit ball rate actually dropped from 2016 to 2017, for instance, even though his overall contact rates increased. Moving to Rogers Centre and the AL East might not be much help to Oh’s home run issues, of course, and since he is 35 years old, there’s also the chance that Oh is simply starting to decline.
[Updated Blue Jays depth chart at Roster Resource]
Still, the reasonable $2MM price tag makes Oh a decent risk for a Jays team that was known to still be looking around for bullpen help. Oh won’t be asked to be a “Final Boss” (his old KBO nickname) in Toronto with Roberto Osuna firmly holding down the closer’s job, though he’ll step right into the setup mix alongside Ryan Tepera and Danny Barnes (not to mention longer-shot non-roster invites like John Axford or Al Alburquerque). Joe Biagini could also again step into a meaningful bullpen role, though the Jays are currently stretching the righty out as a starter in Triple-A to provide depth and occasional spot-start duty.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
seems like a decent move but they have osuna
You need more than one reliever
Oh, Canada!?
Oh won’t be the closer, or even the main setup guy. Hopefully a reliable 6th or 7th inning guy at this point, or maybe a fireman that can close out an inning with men on base. I doubt if they will overuse him at his age.
Doubtful they signed him to be a 6th/7th Guy. He’s being viewed as a set-up guy if they’re paying him a couple mill.
Tepera is setup. Barnes is 7th inning. Oh is a filler
Assist by strostro
Looks like Mark listened to you in that Rocky article.
mlbtraderumors.com/2018/02/dodgers-to-sign-rocky-g…
Thanks buddy
Interesting. Lets find out if year one or year two is who he is. Low risk high reward move
Worthy signing for very little outlay. I like it. Could be a bargain if he ends up somewhere between the last two seasons.
The Toronto Cardinals are getting the “Second last boss”. Like the signing as long as his elbow is healthy.
Not only this season but the recent past has sure seen these two teams match up often.
To tell the truth, we could do worse than model our franchise after The Cardinals.
Good luck OH!….I’m wishing him the best but honestly not expecting a big comeback, his baseball shelf life has come and gone, hopefully he can pass that physical and pad his wallet for one last season.
Blue Jays grasping for any kind of relief help…..not what I would call a quality acquisition. I think they would be better to look within their own system for relief pitchers who could take the ball. #scoutseyes
You have scouts eyes like …… get over yourself
Get a life Jimmer
Lol great name
#BULLSHITEYES
I like it. I was hoping at the start of free agency that they’d go grab him so better late than never. If he can perform closer to that of his rookie year, that’s a nice little trade chip in July or August when we’re about ten or fifteen games back of both Boston and New York. I’m expecting an ERA to be more in the 3.50 range but I’ll take that and some potential for two million bucks.
I think he’s a good flyer.
“If he can perform closer to that of his rookie year,” …… it ain’t happening.
Toronto can have him. They’ll masked sure he passes the physical. Wink wink.
OH really ?
Funny that he lands a deal with the Cardinals farm team in MLB. lol
You can tell that the Texas deal was about both sides not wanting to budge on the terms of the original deal even after his elbow issues. He got what he wanted in Toronto. A year and money for a buyout.
I do like Oh but his last half of 17 was a joke. He’ll need to figure some stuff out but I do think he can and be a solid contributor to the Jays pen.
He was pretty good against right handers, just got hit on vs left. If you look at his other stats, he should be better than he was, just he has to get left handers under control. I also have posted before that I believe misuse played a factor.
Amazing how managers continue to allow certain pitchers to face hitters vs a side of hitter who punish them and agree 100%. Don’t have to have great ability of watching games to spot it either.
Numerous guys.. Tommy Layne, Heath Hembree, Justin Masterson have been just lit up vs a certain side, can add Rich Hill to that list before he changed his mechanics. Why? managers that blind and oblivious?
Managing a bullpen is a little more than picking the right matchups. Most days, a manager doesn’t have all of his pitchers available. First, he has to figure out how he’s going to get through the ninth inning with what he has, and how to save something for the next day. Sometimes it means a pitcher has to face a bad matchup to get to the next guy in the order.. Even then, there’s probably 2 chances in 3 that he gets the guy out.
Misuse? Every one of his peripherals fell off a cliff and his once dominant slider just floated. It very well could have been an injury issue, but even then, there is very little upside considering he just failed a physical.
@Vedder80 Oh was 20/24 in saves in 2017. Go and take a look at the way he was used when he was used as a reliever ie, 6,7, or 8th innings when he was put in the situation of inherited runners. The guy is not a fireman, he’s a closer. Oh’s ERA went north when he was not used correctly, so the usage of the word “misuse” is entirely appropriate.
How much inflammation or wear and tear do you think there should be in a pitcher’s elbow that is his age? He “failed a physical” you say…….let’s see if the signing is confirmed if he goes on the DL for the specific reason of the ‘failed physical’
no mention of buyout in jays offer
Oh was 20/24 in saves in 2017 and his ERA only started going north when he was not used correctly. Go and take a look at the situations where he came in with inherited runners. Osuna blew 10 saves last year…..
Osuna will lose the closer role and Oh will step in.
Much needed signing.
Good comment. In the unlikely event that happens, you can always come back here and say I told you so.
I’m sitting here with Drew Storen and he just threw his hands up and started roaring with laughter.
Oh is a classy not flashy player. I hope he regains his form. He helped the cardinals and we thank him for that.
how many ex cardinals are on the Jay roster?
Diaz, oh, Grichuk, Garcia,
John Axford
Yeah, they just keep digging through the Cardinals’ scrapheap, don’t they? Who will they sign next, Jhonny Peralta?
“scrapheap”…….
Osuna blew 10 saves last year.
So go sign Greg Holland instead of a castoff like Oh. These guys may technically improve the Blue Jays, but they’re not going to get them to the playoffs.
At least the Jays didn’t overpay for the scrapheap. Hows Cecil working out with that ridiculous contract the Cards gave him? LOL
He was up and down last year. He was terrible in April, May, and August, but he was great in June, July, and September. Overall, Cecil was still quite a bit better than Oh last year.
Five!
Oh my gosh!
The Toronto Blue Jays win the 2018 Troll of the Year Award for trolling the Cardinals.
It’s only a matter of time before they hand Donaldson to the Cardinals.
He was awful last year. He has to be hurt. Blue Jays are making a huge mistake.
@JeremyR He was “awful” was he? Did you see how he was used last year? He was 20/24 in saves and then he was used poorly by Matheny.
Too many of those saves he did convert were close calls. He wasn’t “awful,” but both his surface numbers and peripherals declined greatly last year. Matheny rightly didn’t give him much playing time down the stretch, because he wasn’t performing very well and the Cardinals were still in contention up until September. Even rookies like Brebbia and Sheriff had become better options by that point.
There’s also no indication he was playing hurt.
huge mistake? It’s a low cost/risk deal, and just because he didn’t play as well like in 2016 doesn’t necessarily mean he was hurt. You’re making an assumption.
.
Oh, that’s cool.