Yoon signs with Baltimore Orioles

By Kim Tong-hyung

Free agent pitcher Yoon Suk-min has reached an agreement with the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball, America’s highest level of baseball competition, according to the league’s official website on Thursday.

The deal, worth over $5.75 million over three years, is contingent on whether the 27-year-old passes a physical, the report said. There was no official announcement from the Orioles as of Friday afternoon (KST). Yoon had tweeted a photo of himself wearing an Orioles cap on Wednesday, which led to speculation that an agreement was imminent.

The right-hander, who won the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) MVP award in 2011 as a starter for the Kia Tigers, will be looking to duplicate the success of compatriot Ryu Hyun-jin, who went 14-8 in his first year with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season.

In his nine years with the Tigers, Yoon won 73 games and lost 59 with an earned run average (ERA) of 3.19, establishing himself as one of the best Korean pitchers of his generation. His 2011 is considered one of the best seasons for a pitcher in KBO history, when he led the league with 17 wins, 178 strikeouts and a 2.45 ERA to accomplish a rare pitching ``triple crown.’’

In his prime, Yoon has displayed a dual ability to miss bats and induce groundballs, which had many scouts projecting a solid career in the U.S. However, it’s uncertain whether the Orioles are getting a player in his prime.

Yoon endured a tough season in 2013 after sustaining the injury during the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March. He made his season debut in May, coming out of the bullpen, but managed only 87 innings and his ERA soared over 4.00.

Observers here noted that Yoon’s fastball, which used to reach the high-140 to low-150 kilometer-per-hour range, hovered in the mid-140s last year. He gave up a career-high .92 homeruns per nine innings.

However, Yoon did pitch better as the season progressed and now claims that he is fully recovered from his shoulder problems. If Yoon can be anywhere close to the pitcher he was in 2011, the Orioles could be getting a steal. In fact, it was Yoon, not Ryu, who was Korea’s best pitcher during the country’s magical 2009 World Baseball Classic run.

Yoon is the second Korean free agent to sign with a major league club this season. Earlier this month, the Chicago Cubs signed 37-year-old Lim Chang-yong to a minor-league deal. Lim made his big league debut for the team last year after being called up from the minors. He appeared in six games and had an ERA of 5.40.

Lim, who pitched for more than a dozen seasons in Korea and Japan, had an ulna collateral ligament reconstruction on his pitching elbow in 2012. He has pitched well in the minors, allowing only four earned runs in 22 1/3 innings for a 1.61 ERA.