Toronto Blue Jays: Signing Hyun-Jin Ryu is bigger than baseball for fanbase

The Toronto Blue Jays signed left hander Hyun-Jin Ryu late Sunday evening and management has officially installed faith back in a fanbase that was starting to lose hope in everything they did.

Ross Atkins and co. have been looking on the outside of the top free agent market for a few years now. The biggest free agent the Blue Jays had signed (financially speaking) before Hyun-Jin Ryu was catcher Russell Martin, and Alex Anthopoulos orchestrated that signing before Atkins/Shapiro joined the organization.

It just seemed like the Blue Jays were always checking in with players during free agency but could never end up signing them, with players turning down contracts even if the team offered the most money (thanks Rick Porcello). Signing Ryu is more than just acquiring a player to improve the rotation, but also a message to the fanbase that lets everyone know that management is committed to fielding a competitive Blue Jays roster even during the ‘tougher’ rebuilding years.

The A.L. East division is notorious for high spending organizations which field competitive teams every year, and the Blue Jays are currently in a tough spot with a rebuild that was necessary after the 2015 and 2016 playoff runs.

The organization was stalked with fading veterans and a depleted farm system, and both Atkins and Shapiro knew the ship needed a makeover after the 2016 season. Atkins had signed a few lower tiered free agents since being in power, but none of the bigger ticket players that strike fear into the opposing team.

They also went and traded away all the staple veterans from the recent playoff years, which was a tough pill to swallow for fans across the country to accept and move on from. Throw in a Marcus Stroman contract controversy, and the management duo of Atkins/Shapiro was starting to become unpopular very quickly.

Signing Hyun-Jin Ryu drastically changes that narrative. The Blue Jays organization opened their purse strings and told their fanbase “we may be rebuilding, but we are going to get better and compete sooner rather than later”. They went out and accomplished what they said they were going to do, and that was improving the starting rotation.

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By signing Ryu, Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro’s popularity in Toronto has already done a complete 180, to a point where fans may stop calling them by their dreaded “Shatkins” moniker. Fans were begging for the team to get better, and while Ryu does have some injury risk, he does make the team better when he is on the mound.

Does signing Ryu guarantee the Toronto Blue Jays are a 100 win team next year?

Probably not, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The team is technically still rebuilding and some key prospect pieces are still developing both in the MLB and within the farm system. While these next few seasons will still be development years, it’s the baby steps of moving towards playing October baseball in Canada once again.

It also gave the Blue Jays fanbase a glimmer of hope that was desperately needed after a dreadful rebuilding season, one which didn’t surprise anyone but still sucks to watch and endure. The prospects will get better, but having to watch division rivals acquire some of the best players in the game doesn’t make the fans feel better. Signing a player like Ryu is a confidence boost that the fans needed to get their jerseys back on and line up for opening day next year.

Whether this is the last move the Toronto Blue Jays brass makes the season or not, it is apparent that the fanbase is happy with the Ryu signing, and good things may be on the horizon sooner rather than later.