Strasburg signs 245-mil.-dollar deal while Ryu waits for Boras to work magic

Stephen Strasburg, one of the biggest free agents of the Major League Baseball (MLB), decided to continue to play for the Washington Nationals. The Nationals offered the best deal ever made to free-agent pitchers in history to Strasburg and the two parties signed an agreement.

The official website of the MLB and other U.S. media reported that Stephen Strasburg agreed to a contract worth a record 245 million dollars with the Nationals on Monday, the first day of the Winter Meetings. He opted out of the remaining four years and 100 million dollars left on his contract following an excellent 2019 season in which he went 18-6 with a 3.32 ERA, which led to his remarkable success in the free agency market.

Strasburg’s deal breaks two records for free-agent pitchers – total dollars committed to a pitcher and average annual value for a pitcher. The previous record holder of the former was David Price's deal with the Boston Red Sox of 217 million dollars for seven years and the latter was held by Zack Greinke, whose deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks was worth 206.5 million dollars for six years (34.4 million dollars per year). The new free agent record holder’s annual value is 35 million dollars.

As key free agent players have signed deals that exceed predictions, Ryu Hyun-jin who is also looking for a new team may have a good chance going forward. Zack Wheeler (11-8 with a 3.96 ERA) whose 2019 season performance has not been up to Ryu’s (14-5 with a 2.32 ERA) signed a five-year, 118-million-dollar deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Mike Moustakas who recorded a 0.254 batting average, 35 home runs, and 87 runs in the last season achieved a four-year, 64-million-dollar deal with the Cincinnati Reds, which is regarded as exceptionally high for his performance. The agent representing both Strasburg and Moustakas is Scott Boras whose clients also include Ryu. Boras’ magic will be showcased once again with Ryu.


Bae-Jung Kim wanted@donga.com