Seunghwan Oh’s option for the 2019 season already vested when he appeared in his 70th game of the season, but the Rockies right-hander told reporters in his native South Korea on Wednesday that he is considering a return to the Korea Baseball Organization (link via Jee-ho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency).
“I am a bit exhausted after spending five seasons in Japan and the United States,” said Oh, who pitched for Japan’s Hanshin Tigers in 2014-15, the St. Louis Cardinals in 2016-17 and the Blue Jays and Rockies in 2018. “I feel like I want to return to the KBO while I still have the energy to help the team and pitch in front of home fans. I can’t make this decision alone. I’ll have to speak with my agency about the next season.”
It’s a surprising development for a player who is already under contract at a $2.5MM rate that is modest in the United States but would be a substantial salary in the KBO. Then again, the 36-year-old Oh was the KBO’s premier reliever for nine seasons (2005-13) and has had plenty of success in five years pitching between NPB and MLB, so his career earnings are already substantial. Money likely isn’t the primary motivating factor for him at this point. To that end, Oh acknowledged: “It’s not easy living in a foreign country. … Everything away from the stadium is an extension of competition.”
It’s not clear exactly how a move back to the KBO would come together. Yoo notes that Oh’s former club, the Samsung Lions, still controls his rights in the Korean league, though he quotes a Lions official indicating that he was not aware of Oh’s desire to return until learning of it through the media. That executive, though, said the Lions could “explore different possibilities” with Oh should he pursue a return to South Korea. Oh would also be facing a 72-game suspension after the Korean courts fined him for gambling in a foreign casino (a violation of South Korea’s strict gambling laws), which will likely factor into his decision process.
If Oh does ultimately head back to the KBO, it’d be an unexpected blow for a Rockies club that surrendered a pair of prospects — Forrest Wall and Chad Spanberger — when acquiring his services from the Blue Jays back in a late July trade. Presumably, the Rockies and Oh would come to an agreement that would void the remainder of his contract (as was the case with the Twins and ByungHo Park when he, too, decided to return to Korea), though perhaps some additional financial determinations (e.g. compensation from the Lions) would need to be discussed.
Oh was outstanding both in Toronto and Denver this season, pitching to a combined 2.63 ERA with 10.4 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 and 1.1 HR/9 in 68 1/3 innings of work. That strong bounceback season netted him $500K worth of incentives on top of his $1.75MM base salary and made his 2019 option look to be a considerable bargain for a Rockies bullpen that saw high-priced offseason acquisitions Bryan Shaw and Jake McGee both flounder in the first season of matching three-year, $27MM pacts. Beyond that, Colorado is also slated to lose standout late-inning reliever Adam Ottavino to free agency, making the potential loss of Oh an even greater problem.
Say it ain’t sOh…….
Let’s see if he rolls this into more money stateside somehow.
It’s always about the money.
No. It’s not.
While I generally agree it’s usually always about the money, I definitely buy any non English people saying this. I can imagine it’s very hard to live in another country with limited understanding of the native tongue. I would probably do it if I was poor, but a guy like Oh who is probably living very comfortably, can afford to be picky on where he plays.
That’s something people on here fail to account for if they introduce a salary cap. More and more of these situations will happen when the salary cap comes. Places like Colorado need the ability to offer more money especially to pitchers who don’t want to play in Colorado.
I don’t know how you can correlate the salary cap to Oh’s situation. He’s making 2.5MM dollars and like you said earlier in your comment I l don’t think money is his motivating factor for wanting to leave Colorado.
This comment is very amusing after reading what Oh said about life away from the stadium
Remember when Texas decided against signing him after the physical?
Ended up netting a solid return.
Having lived and worked overseas myself, I totally get what Oh’s saying. I know that Oh pitched reasonably well for COL after his trade, too.
That said, I wonder if any part of his decision is being influenced by now being tied to COL and playing his age-36 season at altitude.
Nope, don’t like that.
The cynical will say this is about more money, forgetting that some people do miss their own culture,people and language. Not everyone enjoys Western culture. He’s 36 and is thinking, out loud, about his future. Good luck to him.
“Everything away from the stadium is an extension of competition.”
If he can’t handle the competition and decides to be a quitter, hopefully the Rockies can get one of the prospects back (preferably Wall since 1B/OFs like Spanberger are a dime a dozen).
I agree they should recieve compensation.
Lol why on earth would the jays just give back a prospect? I got news for you. That’s 1 not going to happen. And 2. The Rockies could acquire any player tomorrow. On Friday he could decide to retire from baseball for any reason. You can’t make people play baseball for you if they don’t want to.
The Rockies got what they traded for. The deal is complete the Blue Jays have nothing to do with this.
This is such an insane comment. Players can retire whenever they want. The Blue Jays didn’t trade him knowing he may want to go back home after the season.
But he’s not retiring if he chooses to pitch in the KBO. The Jays might not have to compensate them, but someone will if he pitches somewhere other than Colorado in 2019.
And what is a KBO team going to compensate the Rockies with? A litttle bit of cash? That’s about all the compensation you can get there.
Would the Rockies have traded TWO players if Oh was a free agent after 2018?
We don’t know.
The fact that he is effective with a 2019 vesting option (benefiting the team) was more attractive than a straight-up rental.
cool so anytime a deal does not workout as well as a team had planned then they can get whatever they traded for him back from the original team? Is that a fact? lol
Yeah, I am sure that will happen, JJB. I mean most trades made during the year are usually evened out over the off-season, right?
OMG. For real????? What logic are you using here? The Bluejays did nothing wrong here so why would they have to give back a prospect???
and really? decides to be a quitter? The guy is a slave now? He can’t decide he’s had enough and just leave? Wow. Just wow.
If he is under contract, then no he can’t decide to just go somewhere else to pitch. If he is going to retire and not pitch anymore, then fine more power to him and good luck in life. But if he intends to pitch in the KBO, the Rockies should be compensated.
ummmm no kidding? Where did I say anything to make u think I didnt know that? The post I’m replying to stated the man was a quitter if he decided to leave. Thats idiotic. He can leave anytime he wants whether to retire or pitch in another league. Obviously there are rules in place if he pitches in another professional league that must be met if thats the option he wants to pursue. But any compensation for that avenue has nothing to do with the Jays like this guy tried to say
I thought when people will read this line, they will have some sympathy for a foreigner who has worked away from home for five seasons. Competition he is referring to is different than what you are implying. This guy is a successful major league. He is not really running away.
The Rockies should give Toronto Story since he seems to have all of Tulo’s talent and none of the contract.
In what world do teams just give prospects back just because a player wants to go back home!? If you having nothing intelligent to say don’t say anything at all.
“Whenever I’m about to do something, I think, “Would an idiot do that?” And if they would, I do not do that thing.”
– Dwight Schrute
I don’t think you understood his comment, JJB
It’s not “being a quitter” to decide to go home and pitch for the home fans. He’s not leaving the Rockies in the middle of a playoff race.
Are Japanese players “being quitters” when they get posted in the USA and sign here? Or is it ok to do that if it’s about chasing money?
You people are high. The Rockies took over Oh’s Contract , its theirs now. The Jays aren’t obligated to give anything to the Rockies. Keep puffin out there in Colorado.
Exactly, the Rockies took over the remainder of Oh’s contract plus his 2019 option. Would they have traded TWO players if he was going to be a free agent after this season? Maybe… maybe not. The fact that there is a vesting option for 2019 (which benefits the team) makes him a more appealing pickup.
When an option vests it’s not in the teams favor. That’s a club option that has now become a guarantee. Oh’s option was going to be picked up regardless but it now became a guaranteed year rather than the teams choice.
Having Oh help out in relief work was a very good viable option for the Rockies. It was obvious the Rox bullpen was very often a disaster area and must improve next year.
Am a Rockies fan, and really appreciate what Oh did here after the trade.
Hopefully he stays, but more importantly I hope he does what is best for him and his family.
The right question in this case is, What is Oh need right now? It’s less about money, though he should’ve gotten at least three times more(6-10MM), I think it’s more about s.ex. He wants to get married and settle down. It’s hard to find the one in the mountain.
Am I the only one who noticed he is facing a 72 game suspension if he goes back to Korea? I think he stays one more year then goes home.