Cardinals Sign Seung-Hwan Oh

The St. Louis Cardinals offseason heading into the 2016, looks like it's been a solid one. The Cardinals went into the offseason looking to add a starting pitcher, bench help, and a setup man for the bullpen, and maybe another bat. So far the Cardinals have done everything except land a bat. Today they signed RHP Seung-Hwan Oh. The Cardinals signed him to a one-year contract with an option for the 2017 season, his contract is worth $5 million.

Oh, 33, has been a closer in both Korea and Japan since 2005. He played for the Samsung Lions from 2005-2013. During those seasons, he had a record of 28-13, 444 games, 1.69 era,  277 saves, 625 strikeouts, 510.8 innings pitched, and a whip of 0.84.

He earned two nicknames in Korea. Those nicknames were "Stone Buddha", because he's said to be unshaken and he maintains an emotionless face in every situation. The other nickname is "The Final Boss", that's because of his prowess as a relief pitcher.  Oh is considered to be one of the greatest closers in Korean baseball history. To Korea, Oh is the Mariano Rivera of Korea. In Japan, Oh played two seasons with the Hanshin Tigers (2014-2015). He had a record of 4-7, 127 games, 2.25 era, 80 saves, 147 strikeouts, 135.3 innings pitched, and a whip of 0.99.

Seung-Hwan Oh has pitched eleven seasons during those 11 seasons his career record is: 32-20, 571 games, 1.81 era, 357 saves, 772 strikeouts, 149 walks, 646.1 innings pitched, and a whip of 0.85. He's been an eight time All-Star, and Rookie of the Year just to name a few award he's won over his career.

Oh will be the setup man for closer Trevor Rosenthal, and he joins Rosenthal, Kevin Siegrist, Tyler Lyons, Jonathan Broxton,  Seth Maness, and Miguel Socolovich in the Cardinals bullpen. There's some people who could take one of the spots. So that bullpen might not be fully final. Jordan Walden could be healthy and ready to pitch. Dean Kiekhefer will try to beat Tyler Lyons for the second lefty spot, and Matt Bowman a 5 rule draft pick from the New York Mets would need to be on the team the whole season. If injuries happen the Cardinals also have Mitch Harris, and Sam Tuivailala as options for the bullpen.

Could a trade happen? I have a feeling one could happen, there's some teams who could use pitching. And the Cardinals still need a bat. Teams can also never have enough pitching.

A nice solid pickup for the Cardinals 2016 bullpen.