Ryu Hyun-jin, Hanwha Comeback After 12 Years is Imminent... The Parent Group is also “Discussing a Return”

“I can’t get an offer worth more than $10 million from MLB”… Procedures such as identity verification are required.

‘Korean Monster’ Ryu Hyun-jin (36)’s return to Korean professional baseball is imminent.

According to the Yonhap News coverage on the 19th, all Ryu Hyun-jin's officials familiar with the contract negotiations with Hanwha Group, the parent company of the KBO League's Hanwha Eagles, Ryu Hyun-jin's original team, indirectly acknowledged Ryu Hyun-jin's comeback in Korea. 파워볼사이트

Ryu Hyun-jin, who played in the American Major League Baseball (MLB), became a free agent (FA) after his team, the Toronto Blue Jays, was eliminated from the postseason in October last year.

As Ryu Hyun-jin failed to find a new team even after 30 MLB teams began spring camp training this year, the possibility of a return to his former team, Hanwha, was gradually emerging.

On the 19th, the baseball world announced that Ryu Hyun-jin had signed a contract with Hanwha for a four-year period worth 17 billion to 180 billion won.

An unconfirmed leaflet was circulated claiming that an agreement had been reached for hundreds of millions of won.

In addition, KBS, citing Korean-Canadians, reported that Ryu Hyun-jin had sent luggage stored in Toronto to Korea, raising rumors about Ryu Hyun-jin's return to Korea.

Ryu Hyun-jin, who entered the big league wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform through posting (private competitive bidding) as a Hanwha player and not a KBO League free agent in 2013, must wear a Hanwha uniform if he returns to Korean baseball.

A Hanwha Group official acknowledged the negotiations for the first time, saying, "We are discussing a return to Hanwha with Ryu Hyun-jin," and "However, the negotiations have not been finalized."

An official from Ryu Hyun-jin's side, who is familiar with the negotiations, also said, "This winter, we did not receive contract proposals worth more than $10 million per year on average from major league clubs, and during this process, Ryu Hyun-jin considered returning to the KBO League."

He added, "Ryu Hyun-jin's pride must have been hurt.

People around him recommended that he play in the United States for one to two more years, but returning to Korea served as an opportunity to put more weight into it."

It is reported that the Hanwha Eagles club delivered a specific contract amount to Ryu Hyun-jin that took into account the club's salary cap (total annual salary cap) situation.

In the end, only Ryu Hyun-jin's final decision remains until his return.

However, keeping in mind the slow-moving MLB free agent contract market, Ryu Hyun-jin appears to be weighing at the last minute whether to stay in the big league or return to the KBO league.

Hanwha's position is that Ryu Hyun-jin's return is clearly good news for the club, so they can wait until March.

An official from the Hanwha club explained, “Even if a contract is agreed upon, it is not a situation in which (the contract) can be carried out within a day or two because there are still administrative procedures such as identity verification by the MLB Secretariat and lifting of arbitrary termination.”

According to the Korea-U.S. Player Contract Agreement in the KBO League Rules, if a Korean professional baseball team wants to sign a player who is or has been active as a professional or amateur player in the U.S. or Canada, or is currently under contract with 30 big league teams or is on the pending list, the KBO must do so.

You must go through the secretariat and check your identity with the MLB Secretariat.

The MLB Secretariat will deliver the results to the KBO Secretariat within four business days after receiving the identity check request, and the KBO Secretariat will keep the identity of the club requesting the identity check confidential.