Official 2009-2010 Hot Stove season thread

[bsox0407]

Tazawa could be up in the majors this year. I don't think he will be like Buchholz' date=' but he could end up as a good pitcher. I thought his stuff was pretty good for a guy in his first professional year.[/quote']

 

he started the year in double A and he made it all way through the system in one year.

[BSN07]

he started the year in double A and he made it all way through the system in one year.

 

He lacks Buchholz FB. But I would imagine he will gain some velocity over the next couple years as he gets older and gets some man muscle.

[bsox0407]

He lacks Buchholz FB. But I would imagine he will gain some velocity over the next couple years as he gets older and gets some man muscle.

 

of course he will get faster and then he will be the equivalent to buchholz.

[example1]

of course he will get faster and then he will be the equivalent to buchholz.

 

Do you think guys the equivalent of Buchholz just grow on trees? Or do you think that Tazawa is a really, really special pitcher?

 

I think he'll be good, but I don't think he'll be anything like Buchholz overall.

[BSN07]

of course he will get faster and then he will be the equivalent to buchholz.

 

Have you ever watched Buchholz pitch? Or know anything at all about him?

 

Tazawa is a nice young pitcher. But to say so easy he will be Buchholz's equivalent is a large stretch at this point in time.

[example1]

Have you ever watched Buchholz pitch? Or know anything at all about him?

 

Tazawa is a nice young pitcher. But to say so easy he will be Buchholz's equivalent is a large stretch at this point in time.

 

Maybe the Sox can just include tazawa in a deal for felix or gonzalez instead of Buchholz.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/massarotti/

 

Here are five suggestions on how the Sox can cure their ills:

 

1. Re-sign Jason Bay or replace him with Matt Holliday. Obvious, right? The free agent market is thin, and the reality is that the Sox need more offense even if they keep Bay or replace him with Holliday. If they get neither, the likelihood is that the 2010 lineup will be even worse than 2009. The Sox may be forced to rely on stop-gap measures like Bobby Abreu, who will be a free agent again after a very productive year for the Los Angeles Angels.

 

Ewwww, Bobby Abreu as the fallback to Jason Bay and Matt Holliday? Then again, what options would we have?

 

If they get neither, the likelihood is that the 2010 lineup will be even worse than 2009.

 

lol Massarotti

[Dojji]

Abreu would be a good Plan C actually. Yeah, no power, but his OBP skills are excellent and he has interesting speed.

 

The list tapers off pretty sharply after that however.

[example1]

lol Massarotti

 

Yeah I read that too and chuckled. "Even worse" than 2009! No!

 

2007: RS (867), RA (657)

2008: RS (845), RA (694)

2009: RS (872), RA (736)

 

I think that adding Dice-K and Buchholz to this rotation will do wonders for their record. I'm not sure either will have the impact to win the WS necessarily, but they should be roughly where they are in 2009, at least.

 

I predict that Dice-K will have a more-than triumphant return next year. I thought he actually looked really good in his final few starts, a lot more streamlined and his delivery appeared more compact, like he was pitching in a tunnel. This guy is an impact pitcher, that's what they signed him for and he's shown definite flashes of it throughout his career.

 

Theo says the expectation (not the hope) is that Dice-K shows up in tremendous shape ready to perform at the highest level. He has a short rope in terms of his laziness, so I hope for his sake that he keeps his s*** together and comes back as a highly paid professional would.

[example1]

Abreu would be a good Plan C actually. Yeah, no power, but his OBP skills are excellent and he has interesting speed.

 

The list tapers off pretty sharply after that however.

 

Just for S & G:

 

Ellsbury

Pedroia

V-Mart

Youkilis

Abreu

Ortiz

Lowell

Drew

Lowrie

 

 

Ortiz is really the one I'm about done with. In this league the DH should really be a middle of the order guy, not someone you squeeze in when you have to to keep the L/R line moving. I criticized the Yankees when their 200m payroll couldn't give them a great DH, and I'm criticizing the Sox now.

 

His .744 OPS in innings 7-9 (335/408) and .212/.298/.418/.716 line against LHP all season tell me that he is a black hole in late innings when managers put in lefty relievers.

[rhet]

What price Abreu?

 

He's already turned down 2/16 from the Angels.

[Dojji]

Just for S & G:

 

Ellsbury

Pedroia

V-Mart

Youkilis

Abreu

Ortiz

Lowell

Drew

Lowrie

 

Abreu is a player who steals 20-30 bases a year and gets on base at a very high rate. I'd look at putting him at the top of the order.

 

Abreu

Pedroia

V-Mart

Youkilis

Drew

Lowell

Ortiz

Lowrie

Ellsbury

[bsox0407]

Have you ever watched Buchholz pitch? Or know anything at all about him?

 

Tazawa is a nice young pitcher. But to say so easy he will be Buchholz's equivalent is a large stretch at this point in time.

 

i have seen both pitch and was impressed by both. the movement on tazawa's pitches impresses me and i think he will be a great mlb starter one day. i pitcher who can go from AA to the majors in less than one year must be really good and going to be impressive.

 

not taking anything away from buchholz he is a great pitcher and will get better. i think tazawa will be as good as buchholz was this year.

[jacksonianmarch]

Tazawa is going to be a back of the rotation pitcher in the AL. He doesnt throw hard enough consistently enough to churn through these tough AL lineups. And he doesnt have the location or the depth of secondary pitches to "outpitch" the deep AL lineups. He reminds me a lot of Ian Kennedy.

[Dipre]

Tazawa is going to be a back of the rotation pitcher in the AL. He doesnt throw hard enough consistently enough to churn through these tough AL lineups. And he doesnt have the location or the depth of secondary pitches to "outpitch" the deep AL lineups. He reminds me a lot of Ian Kennedy.

 

The sky is blue. There is kindness in the world.

[example1]

Tazawa is going to be a back of the rotation pitcher in the AL. He doesnt throw hard enough consistently enough to churn through these tough AL lineups. And he doesnt have the location or the depth of secondary pitches to "outpitch" the deep AL lineups. He reminds me a lot of Ian Kennedy.

 

Is that the same Ian Kennedy that you rated ahead of Jon Lester in Gom's "rate the prospects" thread awhile ago?

 

I bet you've seen about 4 innings of Tazawa pitching. At the very most, you're drawing from his first season of professional baseball. Give it a chance to materialize and then spread your phenomenal knowledge.

[jacksonianmarch]

Lester was coming off cancer and was only throwing 90mph. What's Tazawa's excuse?

[example1]

Lester was coming off cancer and was only throwing 90mph. What's Tazawa's excuse?

 

His excuse for being roughly as good as Ian Kennedy in your mind? I don't know. That's a you problem. I imagine Tazawa is pretty happy with his situation and his milb performance at this point.

[jacksonianmarch]

And I am pretty happy with Kennedy's MiLB performance to this point. Thing is, stuff wise, neither of them blow you away because they lack the power heater.

[Dipre]

And I am pretty happy with Kennedy's MiLB performance to this point. Thing is' date=' stuff wise, neither of them blow you away because they lack the power heater.[/quote']

 

The same Ian Kennedy you thought was the second coming of Greg Maddux?

 

Well i'll be damned!

[bsox0407]

And I am pretty happy with Kennedy's MiLB performance to this point. Thing is' date=' stuff wise, neither of them blow you away because they lack the power heater.[/quote']

 

tazawa just needed a few months to make it all the way to the Majors.

[example1]

Thing is' date=' stuff wise, neither of them blow you away because they lack the power heater.[/quote']

 

I don't dispute this. Of course, I don't think any reasonable person would. The assumption is not that he will blow people away, but that he will be able to harness his secondary stuff enough to be an effective innings eater. That will be about execution, not about stuff. Execution is about discipline, practice and brains. That's a subjective thing. Tazawa may or may not be better than Kennedy. It will be up to both of them to decide which is the better pitcher.

[Dipre]

tazawa just needed a few months to make it all the way to the Majors.

 

This argument holds no water.

 

He was summoned to the big leagues because of an emergency. Tazawa isn't even on the same universe as Clay Bucholz in neither stuff nor development. Stop it.

[bsox0407]

This argument holds no water.

 

He was summoned to the big leagues because of an emergency. Tazawa isn't even on the same universe as Clay Bucholz in neither stuff nor development. Stop it.

 

they could have brought up byrd. instead they take tazawa over byrd.

[Dipre]

they could have brought up byrd. instead they take tazawa over byrd.

 

Byrd.was.not.ready.

 

Stop making stuff up.

[bsox0407]

Byrd.was.not.ready.

 

Stop making stuff up.

 

better than bowden is tazawa.

 

for some reason i thought he was signed in late june my bad.

[Dipre]

better than bowden is tazawa.

 

for some reason i thought he was signed in late june my bad.

 

He's not better than Bowden either. He could be better, but he's not nearly as developed as MB is right now.

[redsoxrules]

Tawaza got hammered everytime he took the mound

 

Opponants were batting 423 in 25IP

 

that's realy f***ing horrible

 

I'd like to see him another full year in AAA before he comes back

[bsox0407]

He's not better than Bowden either. He could be better' date=' but he's not nearly as developed as MB is right now.[/quote']

 

Bowden 17 runs in 16 innings.

 

Tazawa 23 in 25.1 innings.

 

i do give bowden a lower WHIP

but just under 15% of his hits given up where homers where as for tazawa it was just under 10%

[Dojji]

They both sucked so much the difference is negligible.