Colorado Rockies acquire elite reliever in trade

DENVER – The Colorado Rockies have swung a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays for right-handed reliever Seung-Hwan Oh, according to sources. The deal is not yet official.

They have sent back first-base prospect Chad Spanberger.

The 36-year-old South Korean has only spent the last three years in MLB but has been fantastic in this short amount of time. Debuting with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2016, he picked up 19 saves in 76 games, winning the closer job part-way through the season. He posted an ERA of 1.92 over 79.2 innings, striking out 11.64 batters per nine while walking just 2.03 in one of the more impressive stateside debuts we’ve seen in some time.

The following campaign, he lost his job as closer after picking up 20 saves but he saw his ERA balloon out to 4.10. He still struck guys out at a decent clip (8.19) and kept the walks in check (2.28), but the league appeared to adjust to him.

Moving over to the Blue Jays prior to the 2018 season, he has tallied a pair of saves pitching primarily in a set-up role but has gotten back to his elite run-prevention levels with an ERA of 2.68. His command, plus swing-and-miss profile, is as good as ever with 10.53 strikeouts per nine and just 1.91 walks per nine.

He is owed $2 million for this season and has a club option for $2.5 million for next season should the Rockies intend to keep him beyond the rest of this current campaign. His buyout is $250,000 should they decide to go the other way.

The former 2008 Olympics gold medal winner with South Korea joins a bullpen that was a focus for GM Jeff Bridich coming into the year but has still underperformed. Big-ticket free agents, Jake McGee and Bryan Shaw, have especially struggled, necessitating this move for another veteran bullpen arm.

He should be seen as great insurance for closer Wade Davis and set-up man Adam Ottavino whose roles could easily be shifted around if the need arises.