Ryu, a former pitcher for the Blue Jays, is expected to ink a record deal in South Korea.
Ryu is expected to join the Hanwha Eagles after playing in the major leagues for four seasons with the Jays and six more with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News Agency.
Before joining the Dodgers in Major League Baseball in 2012, Ryu was a member of the Eagles from 2006 to 2012.
Ryu was one of the Jays’ most eagerly awaited free agents, and his time in Toronto was marked by several mostly uncontrollable ups and downs. Ryu signed a four-year, $80 million contract with Toronto in December 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic postponed his Toronto debut.
In the truncated season of his first year in Toronto, he finished third in the American League Cy Young voting, recording a 2.69 ERA and a 5-2 record in his 12 appearances.
The following season, he wasn’t able to be quite as dominant, but he was still quite consistent, finishing 14-10 with a 4.37 ERA despite Toronto’s home games being played in three different parks: the Rogers Centre, Dunedin, and Buffalo.
However, Ryu’s 2022 campaign was a complete bust due to a Tommy John injury that occurred in early June and limited him to just 17 appearances throughout his final two years in Toronto. Ryu, who was anticipated to be the star of Toronto’s rotation, only made one appearance in a postseason game for the teamโin Game 2 of the 2020 Wild Card round against the Tampa Bay Rays, an 8-2 loss. Ryu finished his career with the Blue Jays at 24โ15, a 3.97 ERA, and 269 strikeouts in 60 games.