Nearly half of baseball fans expect Ryu to stay with the Dodgers

Which uniform “Korean Monster” Ryu Hyun-jin will be wearing the next season? Eyes are on Ryu as the Dodgers southpaw is a free agent this winter. Some say Ryu will not be able to sign a long-term contract due to a history of shoulder and elbow injuries and his age. But as Ryu had a spectacular season and a signing team would not need to surrender draft compensation, many teams are expected to show interest in signing him.

As Ryu accepted a qualifying offer from the Dodgers last year, he can move to other clubs without the drag of draft compensation. More than 10 clubs, including the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Angels, and the Texas Rangers, are reportedly interested in signing Ryu.

Major League Baseball’s winter meetings of general managers began Tuesday in Arizona. From the first day, the Yankees and the Rangers expressed willingness to compete in the FA market. The Texas Rangers formerly signed big contracts with then-free agents Park Chan-ho and Choo Shin-soo.

Baseball fans, meanwhile, expect that Ryu will not leave his home team Dodgers. The mlbtraderumors.com, which mainly deals with trade news, announced the result of its free agent prediction on Wednesday. In a survey of 6,886 baseball fans, almost half (45.6%) of respondents said Ryu will re-sign with the Dodgers. Only 8.7% of respondents chose the Rangers and 6.2% the Angels.


Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com