The baseball season is officially over. Gone is the 2013 season, and in comes the 2013-2014 offseason. This is where the fun begins. Sandy Alderson has some financial flexibility, and it is time for the Mets to be in the conversation about playoff contenders. Although Alderson does have a good chunk of change to play around with — since Jason Bay and Johan Santana are coming off the books — he doesn’t give the impression that he’s going to make gargantuan deals and spend all his money at once. He may still be looking for a deal.
There are a bunch of options have major-league experience, however those options may cost a lot of money. Alderson could look to the international market for a deal. There is the highly-touted Masahiro Tanaka from Japan. Nonetheless, it seems as though Tanaka will probably require an expensive posting fee prior to negotiation. A team could end up paying $100 million — including the posting fee and contract — for Tanaka.
Luckily another pitcher on the international market is flying under the radar: Suk-Min Yoon of the Korean baseball league. Yoon will still require a posting fee, but it will not be as expensive as Tanaka’s. He isn’t nearly as hyped as fellow countryman Hyun-jin Ryu was when he decided to pursue a major-league career.
The scouting reports describe Yoon as not as overpowering pitcher as Yu Darvish. He’s more similar to Kyle Lohse. His fastball sits between 91-93 MPH. Scouts say that he features an above-average changeup. Fastball-changeup combos are undervalued because scouts seem to like breaking balls. However, we’ve seen a large group of guys who have great fastball-changeup combos — such as Ryu, James Shields, and Michael Wacha. Yoon is not as good as that group of guys, but if his changeup is as good as the scouts say, he probably has a chance to be a solid major-league pitcher.
The combination of Yoon being under the radar, and his undervalued pitch combination, means that he could come at a discount. Given that he dealt with a shoulder injury in 2013, his posting fee probably would not be very high as he comes with some risk. He’s also probably not going to get a larger average annual value than Ryu, who got $6 million a year. A deal of two years at $10 million total would be within range for Yoon — and $5 million a year for a solid pitcher is a pretty good deal.
The Mets need some depth in the starting pitching department. The staff can’t be made up of fringy washups like Aaron Harang and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Some fresh arms need to be brought in, and Yoon is an exciting new face who has the potential to be good pitcher for the Mets.
Shoulder injury + unknown quantity + posting fee = pass IMO
I know there’s a drum beat for ’14 being some sort of turn around, but I don’t see it — the holes are too massive still and our genuine ace, who we need, is not playing. I predict this will be a cobbled together staff mixed in with some call ups. The Braves are fixing to be a solid team and I’m not counting out the Nationals. Is .500 possible? I’m not too sure, and not too worried. Will be interesting to see whether SA can hook some strong bats this off season.
I would go all in on tanaka, not waste your time on this guy
This team needs to make a huge splash. Whether trade or free agency. Like they did with Piazza and Beltran. As a Mets fan I am getting a little tired of the what if or hopefuls. No more Davis no more Duda no more Kirk Let’s get some high productive major league ballplayers on this team already.
This link from MLB trade rumors says otherwise.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/10/free-agent-profile-suk-min-yoon.html
Looks like he was pitching hurt last year and has shoulder problems. I’d pass on that price tag.
Yoon Suk-Min does not require a posting fee.
Reliever Oh Seung-Hwan does.
I thought Bay deferred his 18 million to be paid over 3 years? So he would be due 6 million this season and next. Even if it’s not on the books the team team is still obligated to pay him. The team should concentrate on upgrading the outfield. There is enough pitching talent in the minors so I don’t see any point in taking any risks where none is warranted. Let him fly under the radar and concentrate on the offensive side of the team.
Pitching is the teams internal strength. By 2015 a potentially great pitching staff will be assembled. The current focus needs to be on acquiring a legitimate cleanup hitter. Three positions must be filled with excellent choices in order to compete with the best teams in baseball. Think 2015 & beyond.