Blue Jays Land Young Star Korean Pitching Prospect Seojun Moon Over Dodgers

The Toronto Blue Jays may have just landed their future top prospect.

Apr 16, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; A Toronto Blue Jays hat and glove in the dugout during a game against the Atlanta Braves at Rogers Centre. | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

The Toronto Blue Jays have made a massive acquisition in the international market official after months of speculation.

As first reported by Mitch Bannon of The Athletic, the Blue Jays have confirmed and announced the signing of Korean international pitcher Seojun Moon. According to Bannon, the Los Angeles Dodgers were also "very interested" in landing Moon, but were unable to sway him from Toronto.

This makes signing Moon even more significant news for the Blue Jays given the defending World Series champions' prowess in the international market as of late, highlighted by young Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki's signing last offseason.

As for Moon, he is just 18 years old and will likely have a few years before he comes anywhere near the big leagues, but he is loaded with potential. In high school, the youngster posted a 2.18 ERA over 24 games with an absurd 93 strikeouts 66 innings pitched. He also has never allowed a home run.

The right-hander becomes the first Korean-born international signing in franchise history for Toronto. He now joins a pipeline which has been impressive as of late. While there are likely a few different reasons why the Blue Jays were able to land him, the recent developments surrounding current top prospect Trey Yesavage couldn't have hurt.

Blue Jays Bringing Trey Yesavage Along Quickly Makes Team Intriguing

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After starting the season in Single-A, Yesavage was brought up through all levels of the minor leagues this year when it became clear he was too talented to start out where he did. Pitching in Single-A, High-A, Double-A and Triple-A this season, giving opportunities like that to Yesavage spoke volumes.

Talented young pitchers who prove their abilities to contribute are given an opportunity by Toronto to climb the ladder rather than keeping them at a level they have already proven to dominate. With the reported agreement between Moon and the organization in the $1 million range, it was a savvy move from this past offseason that gave the Blue Jays the ammunition to make it happen.

Blue Jays Deal With Guardians Boosted Their International Money Pool

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Last winter, Toronto took on a bad contract from the Cleveland Guardians for their now-center fielder Myles Straw. But a hidden gem from that deal was acquiring more international bonus pool space, with the Blue Jays gaining over $8 million.

At the time, the reason was to make a competitive offer to Sasaki, but after losing him to the Dodgers, they ironically wound up using that newfound money to beat out Los Angeles for Moon. Add in the fact that Straw has had a very solid 2.8 bWAR in 132 games for Toronto this season, and that under-the-radar move by the Blue Jays is aging very well.

The career of Moon is going to be followed extremely closely by not just Blue Jays fans, but by Dodgers fans as well. If he can prove his worth and become one of baseball's best prospects, this could wind up being one of the more savvy moves Toronto has made in some time.