Oh Seung-hwan set to sign with the Cardinals

Oh Seung-hwan

By Nam Hyun-woo

Korean relief pitcher Oh Seung-hwan is set to sign with the Major League Baseball’s (MLB) St. Louis Cardinals, multiple sources said Monday.

Oh flew to Detroit on Sunday and reportedly passed his physical for the Cardinals. With reports that he is finalizing contract terms, the club is expected to introduce Oh at a press conference on Monday (local time).

Writer and MLB commentator Daniel Kim was first to report to Oh’s potential signing with the Cardinals. “I cannot confirm that he has passed the physical, but Oh is close to signing the deal with the Cardinals,” he said to The Korea Times.

“Not only the Cardinals, but also many MLB clubs seek to bolster their bullpen during stove leagues. For them, Oh, who has been solid throughout for 11 seasons in Korea and Japan, is a reliable asset.”

Robert Murray, a reporter for Baseball Essential, also tweeted, “Oh has passed the physical and will have a press conference in St. Louis,” on Monday (local time).

With the MLB.com and CBS Sports reporting Oh’s potential signing, the Korean sports newspaper Sports Dong-A also reported that Oh will join the Cardinals, citing comments from Oh’s father.

“Seung-hwan said he will likely sign (a deal),” Oh’s father was quoted as saying to Sports Dong-A. “He did not tell me about the details of the deal, but he said he was guaranteed to play in the majors, without going to the minors.

“A number of Major League teams have shown interest in him, but the bad issue (illegal gambling) worked against him during the negotiations. Among the clubs, the Cardinals offered the best terms.”

The 33-year-old is the Korea Baseball Organization’s (KBO) career leader in saves, posting 277 saves for the Samsung Lions between 2005 and 2013. During this stint, he established himself with his heavy fastball pitch. His fastball, which Korean fans call the “stoned fastball,” travels over 150 kilometers per hour.

After joining Japan’s Hanshin Tigers, he led the Nippon Professional Baseball’s Central League in saves in each of his two seasons. In the previous season, he posted a 2.83 ERA and 41 saves in 69 1/3 innings, striking out 66.

After wrapping up a two year-stint with the Japanese team, Oh declared free agency in October, but was mired in an overseas gambling scandal. It is illegal for South Korean citizens to gamble abroad, even in jurisdictions where local laws deem it legal. The prosecution sought a summary order against Oh and a fine of 7 million won.

The Hanshin Tigers did not renew their contract with him and the KBO slapped him with a half-season suspension, which would be in effect if he returns to the Korean league.

If the MLB deal is finalized, Oh will become the third Korean to join the MLB this winter, following Minnesota Twins’ Park Byung-ho and Baltimore Orioles’ Kim Hyun-soo. Park made it into the majors through posting and Kim jumped from the KBO as a free agent.

There will be six Koreans in the majors in the upcoming season, along with Texas Rangers’ Choo Shin-soo, Pittsburgh Pirates’ Kang Jung-ho and Los Angeles Dodgers’ Ryu Hyun-jin. This will make 61 games to be played between teams having Korean players. Oh is set to face Kang a total 19 times as the rivals will duel for the National League Central title.

Given the club has a proven relief pitcher, Trevor Rosenthal, an All-Star last season who posted more than 40 saves for two straight seasons, expectations are high that Oh will likely serve as a setup man. Rosenthal finished last season with a 2.10 ERA and ranked second in the National League with 48 saves.

“It’s not easy to make a prediction and we will see what will happen,” Daniel Kim said of Oh. “It is hard to tell whether Oh will play as reliever in his first year, but he has been the best for a quite long time in the KBO and NPB.”

Kim also predicted bright prospects for Oh if he could recover his average ball speed, which dropped last season.

The Cardinals are the reigning National League Central champion. They have 11 World Series titles, with the latest in 2011, and 19 National League pennants. In the previous season, the Cards went 100-62 to lead the division, boosted by MLB’s best team ERA with 2.94 and third-best bullpen ERA with 2.82.