It’s something that’s been talked about a lot in the past, but the details are a bit hazy.
Ryu, of course, signed a four-year, $80 million contract with the Blue Jays in December 2019. He had a great performance in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, started well in 2021 but faltered. faded over time, and then fell completely at the start of 2022 and had season-ending elbow surgery in June. There’s a chance Ryu will return late in 2023, but the reasonable bet here is that he threw his last pitch for the Blue Jays.
Given Ryu’s injury history (he missed all of 2015 and most of 2016 after undergoing shoulder surgery and was limited to 15 starts in 2018 due to a groin injury), having his contract insured would have been a prudent move for the Blue Jays, even if they had to pay a large premium.
But this whole situation is not as simple as the insurance company is going to give the Blue Jays 20 million dollars to compensate Ryu so that the financial commitment is now canceled!
I spoke with a source familiar with sports contracts and insurance and they told me payments won’t start until a player has been on the injured list for two months, so the Blue Jays likely won’t receive insurance funds for the full $20 million Ryu owes next season. Meanwhile, Ben Nicholson Smith recently mentioned on Sportsnet that the claim can’t be filed until the end of the contract, so the Blue Jays won’t get any money back until the 2023 season.
Also, as far as I know, Ryu’s salary would still factor into luxury tax calculations, which are based on the average annual value of a contract, and the Blue Jays have indicated in the past that they weren’t going to cross that threshold.
So, all things considered, don’t expect a $20 million spending spree this winter because of Ryu’s insurance money. It will add flexibility, of course, but it might be more relevant around the time of the trade deadline next summer rather than during the offseason.
Moving along…
The big story this winter in baseball is the free agency of Aaron Judge, who hits the open market for the first time in his career after a season in which he hit 62 homers and had a 1.111 OPS. But as good as Judge’s season was, that didn’t shield him from the harsh realities of being a Yankee when he went 1 for 16 in the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros…