Blue Jays: Seung-hwan Oh reportedly passed physical

According to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reliever Seung-hwan Oh has reportedly passed his physical with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays and Seung-hwan Oh reached an agreement late last night on a $2 million dollar pact with a vesting option for 2019. Oh had reached a prior agreement with the Texas Rangers, however, the Rangers nixed the deal due to inflammation on his throwing elbow.

Obviously, the Blue Jays medical staff did not have the same reservations as the Rangers when it came to his medical prognosis moving forward.

The former closer will look to rebound from a disastrous 2017 campaign with the St. Louis Cardinals in which the reliever sported an inflated 4.10 earned run average in 62 relief appearances.

The 35-year old is a year removed from a 2016 campaign that saw him finish 6th in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. After spending 11 years pitching in Japan, Oh came stateside and dazzled saving 19 games for the Cardinals while accumulating a minuscule 1.92 earned run average in 76 games.

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Oh is one of the most decorated relievers in Japanese history earning an impressive 32-20 record with 357 saves and a Hall of Fame worthy 1.81 earned run average in 571 career games in both Korea and Japan.

If Oh can prove that last season was a one-off and get back to his career norms this will be a great signing for the Jays. The South Korea native has the opportunity to really solidify the backend of the Jays bullpen and provide some insurance for closer Roberto Osuna.

It would appear that General Manager Ross Atkins is somewhat collecting Cardinals players as Oh becomes the third player added from their 2017 roster. Oh will join former teammates Aledmys Diaz and Randal Grichuck in Dunedin.

Next: Blue Jays must find winning ways in April

The Jays have made some really slick, high upside, low risk moves this offseason that could pay dividends for the club in the months to come. Don’t sleep on the Blue Jays folks, they are going to be in the conversation in the AL East pecking order in 2018.