Yoon Suk-min lands in Baltimore

February 13, 2014

Reportedly agrees to 3-year $5.75 million contract, pending physical

Yoon Suk-min posted this photo on his Twitter account earlier this week.

Yoon Suk-min posted this photo on his Twitter account earlier this week.

By Lee Kyutae

South Korean pitcher Yoon Suk-min, 27, has reportedly reached an agreement with the Baltimore Orioles.

According to CBS Sports.com, the right-hander has agreed to join the Major League Baseball (MLB) team, but will have to pass the team’s physical.

Earlier this week, Yoon tweeted a photo of himself wearing an Orioles cap, fueling speculation that a deal was imminent.

The deal is said to be for $5.75 million over three-years, but with incentives which could raise the total value of the deal to $7 million.

However, the Orioles have yet to confirm the deal as of Thursday morning.

Yoon is a former MVP in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), winning the pitching Triple Crown for the Kia Tigers. But, he was sidelined at the start of the 2013 season with a shoulder injury, and was limited to 87 2/3 innings, and that’s where the concern is.

He went 3-6 with seven saves in 30 appearances, 11 of them starts, with a 4.00 ERA, 76 strikeouts and 28 walks.

It’s not an easy situation for Yoon, as he landed in the American League East division where he’ll have to regularly face perennial ‘Super Powers’ such as the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, last year’s preseason favorite Toronto Blue Jays, and the pitching-rich Tampa Bay Rays.

Major League teams play 19 games against each divisional opponent in a season.