In the space of one late-December weekend, the trajectory of the Toronto Blue Jays‘ future has shifted dramatically.
After three years of frustration, the club’s been handed a game-changer — a bona fide superstar in pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu, inked to one of the largest deals in franchise history.
The importance of Ryu’s addition is key to both the here and now and down the line, with the 2019 National League ERA leader taking the mound in 2020, not only as one of the game’s best, but also as an invaluable mentor for those names upon which Toronto’s future hopes are pinned.
For a fan base increasingly skeptical of a club high on potential but low on results, it’s also a much-needed step forward. While a long-festering sentiment among the Blue Jays faithful took it that president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins were unwilling to spend boldly to push the club into the next phase of its ascent, Ryu’s agent, Scott Boras, emphasized just how important the duo’s approach was in landing the former Dodgers star.
“The first thing about players that you learn is that it’s a very human dynamic, free agency,” Boras said Monday on Sportsnet 590‘s Good Show. “Ross and Mark made a very, very strong campaign from the start, where they showed a strong interest in Hyun-Jin, and it was something that began really before most clubs illustrated that kind of intent.
“They let him know that he was the person that they felt was a cog in the wheel of their future, and building a club and what they’re doing. I think Hyun-Jin felt that from them, and felt that his importance to their future was (that) he was going to be their No. 1 pitcher. And I think that’s status that he enjoyed.”
Toronto’s endured a long three seasons since their back-to-back runs to the ALCS in 2015 and 2016. The absence of playoff baseball at the Rogers Centre was mitigated somewhat last season by a glimpse of the future courtesy of young stars like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio.
But the presence of that talented young core is more than simply a nice story for fans to cling to, Boras says — it’s also vital when it comes to enticing free agents and accelerating this rebuild.
“I talked a lot about what I call the ‘Royal Youth of Canada,'” Boras told Sportsnet 590‘s Andy McNamara. “…Obviously with Guerrero having the bat speed he has, I think Bichette is going to be a phenomenal middle infielder, and Biggio obviously dramatically improved at the major league level, which is a really good sign for a player.
“…When you look at that roster — plus you have (Nate) Pearson coming — it changes the dynamic of how that team is viewed by free agents moving forward. You look at the payroll, you look at the ownership really being the wealthiest ownership room at the major league level. All that combination, I think, is encouraging to a player.”
For Ryu specifically, it was the make-up of Toronto’s pitching corps that helped entice him, with the South Korean ace’s ability to dominate with soft contact and the regulation of speed providing a counterbalance to Toronto’s hard-throwing pitchers, noted Boras.
“Toronto really had the worst rotation in the major leagues last year and I think Ross and Mark made a concerted effort to say, ‘Look, we have some great young talent coming, particularly in the rotation, and I want people there that can advance these young players, I want veterans around them so that they have the opportunity to learn and illustrate a pitchability that has not been there for the last couple years,'” Boras said. “It’s no secret when the Blue Jays did win in ’92 and ’93, you found out the depth of their rotation was excellent.
“So, it’s a formula that’s a necessity for winning and it’s a formula that’s a necessity for the fans in Toronto to return and look at their ‘Royal Youth’ and enjoy them, and really see a brand of baseball that I think is going to be widely entertaining and competitive.”
Listen to Sportsnet 590’s full interview with Scott Boras via the audio player embedded in this post.
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