Rangers Sign Seung-hwan Oh: Fantasy Impact

The Rangers added depth to their bullpen with Seung-hwan Oh. Is he someone fantasy owners should invest in this season?

The Texas Rangers have been pretty busy this offseason, adding both starting and relief pitchers, as they try to compete with their division rivals. The front office struck another deal on Tuesday agreeing to sign reliever Seung-hwan Oh.

Oh joins a crowded Rangers bullpen. He will have to compete with Keone Kela, Jake Diekman and Alex Claudio atop the bullpen. Matt Bush is slated as the No. 5 starter, according to Roster Resource. Though, he does have closer experience if the Rangers need him back in the bullpen.

He is currently listed as a middle reliever, which will tank any fantasy value he has. There are a select few non-closer relievers that I would like to have on my fantasy team and Oh wouldn’t be one of them. If he can sneak in a few saves, then he’ll be worth an add in deeper or AL-only leagues.

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Oh struggled last season as the Cardinals closer. He compiled a 4.50 ERA at the end of April but was able to lower it to 3.54 by the All-Star break. Oh was able to record 18 saves in that span before being removed from the role.

Fantasy owners were on the Oh hype train at the end of last season. He finished with a 1.92 ERA, 0.916 WHIP and 19 saves. He took over the closer job in July after Trevor Rosenthal suffered an injury. Plus, Oh was just too dominant in his current role not to make him the closer.

He was drafted as a top-10 closer last season but finished outside the top-20 among relievers at season’s end. With multiple 100-strikeout relievers and closers posting sub-2.00 ERAs with 35-plus saves, Oh wasn’t going to be on many people’s rosters.

Moving to the American League West will also hurt Oh’s value. Facing a DH instead of a pitcher (though unlikely in the ninth inning) will post some problems. It will likely be a power hitter in that spot. And looking at some of the top hitters in that division, things may be rough for Oh.

Oh allowed 10 home runs last season, doubled from 2016, in 20 fewer innings. He also had an 8.2 K/9, more than three strikeouts fewer than the prior seasons.

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Even if Oh signed to a team to be their closer, his value would have been in question. Yes, he would have picked up some saves but the drop in strikeouts and a huge increase in his ratio stats in the second half caused a few eyebrows to raise. I would avoid Oh in drafts this season.