In the midst of a rebuild, it’s been reported that the AL East cellar dwelling Toronto Blue Jays want to field a better team in 2020, despite being nowhere near the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays, as well as being a year removed from division rival Boston Red Sox winning the World Series.

Despite this, the Blue Jays has made it a focal point all offseason to improve the starting rotation, which even includes reports today from Ken Rosenthal that they were talking a potential trade with the aforementioned Red Sox for former AL Cy Young and Toronto Blue Jay David Price. They’ve already brought in Chase Anderson and Tanner Roark this offseason.

But their biggest rotation addition so far just broke: Hyun Jin Ryu. The South Korean lefty will be 33 come the 2020 season, but he pitched like an ace in 2019 for the LA Dodgers. Finishing second in the NL Cy Young voting to Jacob deGrom, the All-Star southpaw led the NL with a 2.32 ERA (his career is 2.98 in 6 seasons). Though his 163 Ks in 182 IP was rather low, he walked a mere 24 total hitters. His excellent job at keeping opposition of the basepaths is impeccable being a contact oriented pitcher.

The deal, according to ESPNs Jeff Passan, is 4 years for $80M total. This is the third largest contract in Blue Jays history in regards to total value, trailing Vernon Wells 7 year extension in 2006 where he took home $126M and Ryu’s catcher in LA this past year, Russell Martin, who signed for 5 years and $82M heading into the 2015 season. As for a long term commitment, Ryu’s $20M is the highest annual contract they’ve ever given out.

Whether there’s an opt out or no trade clause remains to be seen but PSE will keep you updated as it becomes available.

UPDATE: Per USAToday’s Bob Nightengale, the deal does not involve an opt out clause, but does grant Ryu full no-trade protection.

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