Colorado Rockies: Another wrinkle in how the bullpen will look in 2019?

The Colorado Rockies bullpen struggles were well documented in the 2018 season. However, one of their main stalwarts in the bullpen this past season, Adam Ottavino, is set to hit the free agent market this offseason. One of the other main stalwarts down the stretch for the Rockies was Seunghwan Oh after the club acquired him via trade from the Toronto Blue Jays in late July. With his 70th appearance of the season, his option for $2.5 million vested for the 2019 season but Oh is mulling leaving Major League Baseball behind.

Per the Yonhap News Agency in Seunghwan Oh’s native South Korea (h/t MLB Trade Rumors), Oh, in a press conference on Wednesday, spoke to reporters about potentially leaving the Colorado Rockies and returning to the Korean Baseball Organization (aka KBO).

As you may expect, he said that living in a foreign country for 5+ years has taken a toll on him.

"“I am a bit exhausted after spending five seasons in Japan and the United States,” said Oh, who pitched in Japan in 2014-15 before coming to North America to play in Major League Baseball. “I feel like I want to return to the KBO while I still have the energy to help the team and pitch in front of home fans. I can’t make this decision alone. I’ll have to speak with my agency about the next season.”"

After the Rockies acquired him in July, the 35-year old South Korean pitched to a 2.35 ERA in 25 games in 21 1/3 innings pitched. He also had one save, a FIP of 3.86, a WHIP of 1.031, and he also averaged more than ten strikeouts compared to just three walks per nine innings.

Just by ERA, that was the third best out of the Rockies bullpen (minimum of 15 innings) as he was just behind Adam Ottavino (2.43) and Scott Oberg (2.45). Including his time with the Blue Jays in the first half of the season, Oh went 6-3 with a 2.68 ERA in 73 games. Even better was his overall strikeout to walk ratio as he struck out 10.4 batters per nine innings compared to just 2.2 walks.

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Implications on the Rockies

If Oh were to leave the Rockies, they would have a little bit more payroll flexibility for next season with Oh’s $2.5 million but their bullpen would even be in more disarray.

With Ottavino set to become a free agent, the next lowest ERA behind Scott Oberg’s was Wade Davis‘s 4.13. The only other Rockies relievers to have at least 15 innings out of the bullpen with an ERA below 6 were Harrison Musgrave (4.63) and Bryan Shaw, who barely is under that threshold at 5.93.

The bullpen already needs to be a priority this offseason but the Rockies case would be even more dire if Oh decides to return to South Korea.

There are plenty of options on the free agent market but the Rockies may look to the trade market after they have been burned numerous times on the free agent market in the bullpen in the past few seasons.