Dodgers Trade Jae Seo to Devil Rays

Jae Seo (Seo Jae-eung, 29) has been traded unexpectedly from the LA Dodgers to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the American League East Division. According to the Dodgers’ website, they agreed to a deal to trade Seo and Dioner Navarro (22), a Triple A pitcher, to Tampa Bay for a pitcher, Mark Hendrickson (32) and a catcher, Toby Hall (31).

After 5 months and 23 days since being traded from NY Mets to the Dodgers on January 5 this year, Seo has met another fresh start. Seo’s performance in the Dodgers was not satisfactory. Initially pitching as a starter, he yielded his turn in the starting rotation to Odalis Perez and was demoted to the bullpen after the 28th last month in a match against Washington in which he gave off 6 runs before finishing the third inning. He played in 19 games (10 as a starter) in the Dodgers’ jersey and recorded 2 wins, 4 losses and an ERA of 5.78.

Instead of No.26, which has been printed on his back in his previous career, he got No.98 in Tampa Bay. Through his management agency, he said, “It’s better to be in Tampa Bay where I can have a chance to pitch as a starter than staying in the bullpen.”

It seems that he will fill the blank of Hendrickson, the former 3rd starter of the Devil Rays who has been traded with Seo.

As for Seo, this trade seems to be both a chance and a crisis. The East Division where Tampa Bay belongs to also includes traditional powerhouses in baseball, the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Moreover, Tampa Bay is on the bottom of the division’s standings as of June 28. He could either glitter in uniqueness or be cornered with nowhere else to go.

Making his debut in the big leagues in 2002, he has pitched in 90 games and notched 24 wins and 28 losses with a 4.13 ERA throughout his career.

Sung-Kyu Kim kimsk@donga.com