Orioles Proving Ground

On Wednesday, I mentioned that at some point I would probably share my thoughts on Baltimore’s recent signings of Korean right-hander Suk-min Yoon and free agent starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez.  Well today is your lucky day as I’ve deemed myself ready to discuss Suk-min Yoon.  Hopefully soon, I’ll discuss the Ubaldo Jimenez signing as well.

I’m starting with Yoon for a couple of reasons.  First, he signed before Jimenez, and second I don’t really know much about him, so this shouldn’t take too long.  Other than checking out a couple of videos on YouTube, I’ve never seen him pitch and don’t have any additional thoughts or analysis from what is already readily available to you (the reader) if you had performed the Google search yourself.  Although according to the video I just linked to, Yoon seems to regularly throw well over 100 mph, which is amaz…wait, nope that’s in km/hr.

Anyway, the Orioles signed Yoon on Monday to a 3-year deal worth a total of $5.575 million.  The deal includes incentives based on games started that could net Yoon an extra $7.5 million or so.  Yoon is 27 years old and has 3.19 ERA over 9 seasons playing in the Korean Baseball Organization (the professional baseball league in Korea).   He’s pitched mostly as a starter in the KBO (earning league MVP honors in 2011), but has had some experience in the bullpen, including the 2013 season due to some shoulder tendonitis.

Based on what evaluators have been saying, the general consensus on Yoon is that he’s either a back-end #4 or #5 starter, or an effective reliever in the major leagues.  If that’s the case, it’s hard not to like this deal.  At best, the Orioles get a back end of the rotation starter and at worst an effective reliever for less than $2 million per year.  To help you get better acquainted with Yoon, I’ll dump a couple of links on you from people who know more about him than I do.  Highly suggest taking a minute to look at both.

Camden Depot’s Jon Shepherd talks with Korea’s Yonhap News’ Jee-ho Yoo about Suk-min Yoon

Suk-min Yoon Scouting Report by former Lotte Giant Ryan Sadowski

This entry was posted on February 20, 2014 at 11:00 am and is filed under Free Agency, Pitching with tags 2014 Baltimore Orioles, Suk-min Yoon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.