Devil Rays acquired RHP Jae-Kuk Ryu from the Cubs for RHP Greg Reinhard and outfielder Andy Lopez. Rotoworld says
We're hardly big Ryu fans, but for the Rays to get him in return for two guys who didn't rank among their top 25 or 30 prospects is a fine move. Ryu went 8-8 with a 3.23 ERA, 123 H and 114/51 K/BB in 139 1/3 IP for Triple-A Iowa and gave up 14 runs in 15 innings for the Cubs last season. He might be an adequate fifth starter or solid middle reliever.
As I noted RP Marcos Carvajal was waived to make room for Ryu, who is a canidate for the bullpen and for the 5th rotation slot. He's got a fastball that sits around 90, and throws decent sliders, curves, and changes. Signed out of Korea for 1.6 million the Cubs figured he'd become a decent piece of their puzzle, then he killed a bird, and lost some fire in his spirit. BA ranked him 14th in the Cubs system this year, but he is only 23 and won't turn 24 until the end of May. He's also the third former top Cub prospect to be acquired this off-season following Hee Seop Choi and the trade of Brendan Harris.
My Take on the Move Great trade, Ryu is better than Marlin arms Nolasco and Petit, and we give up very little for a potentially good part of our 07 squad. I hope Marcos can return on a minor league deal, and question why Dohmann survived over him, and is there a pending deal with one of our starters perhaps? Also this is the second deal we've made, and again no major leaguers given up for minor leaguers, the DRO has held their promises and is beginning to work on the bullpen it seems.