Say it ain’t so, Seunghwan Oh.
According toWednesday’sreport via the Yonhap News Agency, the 36-year-old veteran right-handed reliever is consideringgoing back to South Korea for next season.
As for his reasons for a desired return to the Korea Baseball Organization, Oh cited the 24/7 demands of living in a foreign country — his interpreter Eugene Kooneeded at his side at all times—in addition to the fact that his family is always 6,000-plus miles away.
One of Asia’s all-time greatest bullpen arms pitched in the major leagues for the past three seasons with the Cardinals, Blue Jays andRockies, and Colorado acquired him from Toronto in a deadline trade onJuly 26.
He posted a2.53 ERA in 25 games for theRockies, emerging as an uber-reliable “Final Boss” out of the bullpen as manager Bud Black’s confidence waned in other struggling middle relievers such as Bryan Shaw and Jake McGee.
So, if Oh does indeed return to South Korea, Colorado’s bullpen will be on even shakier offseason ground.
Adam Ottavino, who posted a bullpen-high 2.6 WAR in 2018, is a free agent andlikely not to be re-signed.The beleaguered Shaw and McGee are amid three-year, $27 million contracts and currently look like expensive dead weight.
All of those holes mean that Scott Oberg will need to continue to be money in 2019, and young right-handers Yency Almonte and DJ Johnson may be called upon in bigger roles than initially expected.
And, Oh’s departure could mean that general manger Jeff Bridich — already with his platefull of hot-stove decisions— might need to add a quality veteran reliever to his offseason shopping list.
, The Denver Post
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