Dodgers: Will Hyun-Jin Ryu Accept the Qualifying Offer?

The Dodgers tendered the qualifying offer to Hyun-Jin Ryu and Yasmani Grandal.  Of the two, there is a much stronger chance that Ryu accepts the qualifying offer.

Hyun-Jin Ryu was given a qualifying offer by the Dodgers and he has until November 12th to accept the QO.  Much like Yasmani Grandal, the qualifying offer is something Ryu will consider since it would give him a guaranteed 17.9 million in 2019.  Unlike Grandal, there is a much higher chance that Ryu will accept the qualifying offer.

Hyun-Jin Ryu was very good for the Dodgers when he was healthy in 2018, but just like past seasons he was on the disabled list for multiple stints.  Ryu went 7-3 with a 1.97 ERA in fifteen starts for the Dodgers in 2018.  Up until his groin injury in May, he was arguably the Dodgers’ best starting pitcher until he ripped the groin off his bone during a start in Arizona.

Injuries have been the common theme for Hyun-Jin Ryu’s Dodger tenure.  In 2015, Ryu was out for the season after undergoing labrum surgery and he missed all of the 2016 season with the exception of one start.  This season Hyun-Jin was out from May until the middle of August.

It was upon his return when he continued where he left off and made his push onto the Dodgers’ postseason roster.  In the second half of the season, Ryu posted a 1.88 ERA and even started game one of the NLDS for the Dodgers pushing Clayton Kershaw to game two.  Despite his solid start against Atlanta, Ryu finished the playoffs with an ERA over five.

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The free agent market isn’t particularly strong for starting pitchers but there are five solid options in the market in Patrick Corbin, Charlie Morton, J.A Happ, Nathan Eovaldi, and Dallas Keuchel.  While none of those five are aces, they are all very solid starting options who could be a number two or three starter on a playoff contender.

That would leave Ryu as the sixth best starting pitching option on the market, in the second tier of the top available starting pitchers this winter.  Of the aforementioned starters, probably only Corbin and Eovaldi figure to get more than twenty million dollars a season.  That means the 17.9 qualifying offer should be pretty intriguing to Ryu.

Hyun-Jin Ryu will likely get contract offers around two years and thirty million or three years and thirty-six million dollars.  While the annual salary would be lower, a multi-year contract would give Ryu a chance to earn more money over the course of his next contract.

If Ryu is just looking for the highest annual paycheck, he should accept the qualifying offer.  Given that Ryu said he would like to return to the Dodgers, I think in the end he will either work out a deal with the Dodgers or he will accept the qualifying offer.  While the Dodgers have an abundance of starting pitchers, Ryu is one of the Dodgers’ best five starters when healthy.