The Los Angeles Dodgers were not active in renewing the contract with Ryu Hyun-jin (36, Toronto Blue Jays), who became a free agent after the 2019 season. It was because of the pitching staff with abundant young starters. Among them, the presence of Julio Urias (27), a left-handed pitcher like Ryu Hyun-jin, was significant. 

Mexican fireballer Urias signed a contract with the Dodgers early in 2012 at the age of 16, and showed potential as a starter after making his major league debut in 2016. He went through rehabilitation due to a shoulder injury in 2017, and was on the verge of bursting his potential in 2019, going back and forth between selection and relief. 

Urias proved that the Dodgers’ choice was not wrong. In the shortened season of 2020, when Ryu Hyun-jin moved to Toronto, Yurias played an active part as a full-time starter with an average ERA of 3.27 with 3 wins and 1 loss in 11 games. In the postseason, he took the lead in helping the Dodgers to win the World Series for the first time in 32 years with a 1.17 ERA in 6 games, 4 wins and 1 save, going back and forth between start and relief. 먹튀검증The last save pitcher in Game 6 of the World Series was also Yurias. 

In 2021, he played in 32 games (185⅔ innings) with an average ERA of 2.96 and 195 strikeouts in 32 games (185⅔ innings), leading the National League with the most wins and winning rate (.870). Last year, he showed his power with an average ERA of 2.16 and 166 strikeouts in 31 games (175 innings) with 17 wins and 7 losses, ranking first in the average ERA and third in the Cy Young Young. He also received the Warren Spahn Award, which is given to the best left-handed pitcher for two consecutive years. 

Urias, who obtained his first free agent qualification at the end of this season, is attracting attention as the next best player next to Shohei Ohtani (LA Angels). The market situation also went in favor of Yurias. Darvish Yu, a special starting pitcher who was a preliminary free agent, signed a six-year, $108 million contract extension with the San Diego Padres on the 9th and remained with the team early on. Aaron Nola, another top-class starting pitcher whose 4+1 year contract worth up to $56.75 million ends with the Philadelphia Phillies this year, is also more likely to stay instead of free agency as he discusses extending his contract. 

As free agency starters disappear one by one, the value of Yurias, who ranks next to Ohtani among the remaining players, is soaring. Besides, Urias is a client of ‘Super Agent’ Scott Boras. Boras mainly uses a strategy to raise the ransom by going to the free agency market rather than extending contracts to players. There is no news about a contract extension between Yurias and the Dodgers. 

On the 5th, in an interview with local media such as ‘The Athletic’, Yurias also said about whether to extend the contract with the Dodgers, saying, “We are ahead of the season with the World Baseball Classic (WBC). Although they are two things I am focusing on right now,” he said, “there will be opportunities to discuss with the club at the agency, but I am focusing on the field 100%.” Urias will participate in this WBC as the captain of the Mexican national team. 

If Urias continues his recent performance this year, he can even surpass Clayton Kershaw’s contract, which is the highest ever for a Dodgers pitcher. Kershaw signed a 7-year, $215 million contract extension with the Dodgers in January 2014. At the time, it was the highest treatment ever for a pitcher with the first $200 million contract.