Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Hot Stove News: Japanese Prospect Edition
It appears that the Red Sox are the frontrunners to sign Junichi Tazawa, an amateur right-handed pitcher in Japan who worships Daisuke Matsuzaka and who was a priority for a number of Major League teams. He would almost certainly start off in the minors after signing a contract, but if recent seasons have taught us anything it is that an abundance of starting pitchers tends not to be a luxury, but rather a necessity as a season wears on and guys get hurt, struggle or as it otherwise becomes clear that too many pitchers is usually not enough.
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4 comments:
It also perhaps adds some depth to trade Bowden/Masterson/Bucholz for a catcher.
GoodLib --
As you know, I am an ardent believer that at least part of the reason you develop prospects is for the purpose of being able to use them to trade for talent. This is part of what I have taken to calling "Moneyball Plus," which is the idea of wealthy teams (or simply teams willing to spend) using the principles of Moneyball, but with the benefit of having the money to spend on bigger names and other luxuries the A's and such cannot afford.
All that said, I'm not certain what's out there for a catcher who might be worth one of those three. I still like the idea of a one-year signing of Tek if that's in the cards. Then again, soon it will be time to move forward.
dcat
Tek for a year, platooning with a younger catcher would be my ideal. Packaging something around Bowden for Saltamacchia would be my ideal- Salty has a big bat and V-tek could mentor him on his defence and calling games.
GoodLib --
tek for another year would be fine with me, especially in a late phase of his career whereby he catches less and mentors more, and the options you lay out are fine with me, though we may find that what we already have on the roster might be fine.
I also am a big fan of signing Dusty long-term. That coast containment/cost certainly is not only good in the long run, but it also is good for this offseason -- it means we can probably spend a bit knowing we have a major piece taken care of through 2015.
dcat
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