Holy Smokes: The Winning Bid for Hyun-jin Ryu was $25.7 Million (UPDATE: Lotta Folks Say It’s Not the Cubs)
How much do the Cubs want Hyun-jin Ryu? How much do other teams?
Well, at least one team out there really, really, really wants Ryu. According to multiple reports, the winning bid for the posted Korean pitcher was more than $25.7 million – or about half of the posting fee for Yu Darvish, who was considerably more well-thought-of.
We don’t yet know who won the post, but there are rumors floating around that suggest we could hear at any time.
UPDATE 1 (at 6:51pm CT): OK, I’ll blink and say that the majority of RUMORS floating around there on Twitter, purportedly coming from Korea, say the Cubs have won. They are RUMORS and should be treated as RUMORS. But now you know the RUMORS.
UPDATE 2 (at 6:55pm CT): Danny Knobler just said that the Cubs seemed to be the most interested in Ryu, though that is, at best, him just hinting or guessing that the Cubs have won. If he knew more, he would say it.
UPDATE 3 (at 6:56pm CT): While we wait on more, here’s what I wrote about Ryu previously. The gist is: he could be a nice, middle-of-the-rotation starter for years, if everything goes right. Based on the posting amount, the winning team seems to think he’s a mortal lock for a rotation.
UPDATE 4 (at 6:59pm CT): Jon Heyman (who was among those who “confirmed” last week’s Haren/Marmol trade) says the Cubs bid aggressively, but did not win.
UPDATE 5 (at 7:24pm CT): Obligatory jokes about “sources” and “confirming” aside, Gordon Wittenmyer says sources have confirmed to him that the Cubs did NOT win the bid for Ryu.
UPDATE 6 (at 7:36pm CT): Evan Grant says he hears it wasn’t the Rangers, but he also cautions that folks heard a lot of wrong things back when Darvish’s posting was happening. Tentatively sounding like it’s the Dodgers. Or some other team. Or the Cubs. But probably not the Cubs. Probably the Rangers. Or not.
UPDATE 7 (at 8:01pm CT): Buster Olney says “other teams suspect” that it’s the Dodgers.
UPDATE 8 (at 8:05pm CT): Ken Rosenthal hears the Dodgers were aggressive in the bidding.
UPDATE 9 (at 8:41pm CT): Phil Rogers joins the parade of folks saying it isn’t the Cubs.
