February 26, 2008

Colon Arrives In Camp

The Bartolo Colon signing is official and the pitcher is in camp. Sean McAdam notes Colon's "ill-advised decision to wear a horizontally striped shirt, which was not a slenderizing look".

The Herald has more on his contract:
As long as Colon is in the minor leagues, he will be paid a salary of $18,000 a month. If and when Colon reports to the major leagues, he will receive a pro-rated, guaranteed base salary of $1.2 million that translates into roughly $200,000 a month.
There are also a bunch of incentives. Theo offers his thoughts here.

Manny Ramirez, asked if he thought Colon could help the Red Sox: "I'm not a pitching coach."

A bit more on Terry Francona's new contract: he'll get an extra $250,000 in any season the Red Sox win the AL pennant. The option years -- for 2012 and 2013 -- must be excerised together after the 2011 season.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is working on his changeup. John Farrell says hitters "won't be able to detect it early upon its release". Dice is much more relaxed this spring: "Most of the things that were a source of stress for me last season have disappeared, and now I'm just able to practice. I'm feeling really good about it." ... If you find yourself in the Japanese province of Hokkaido, check out Dice's museum in the town of Wakkanai.

Daniel Bard, Boston's first-round draft pick in 2006, struggled with his control in A ball last year, walking 22 batters in 13.1 innings for Lancaster and posting a 6.39 ERA in Greenville (where he walked 56 in 62 innings). The organization is moving him to the bullpen.

Working out of the pen for Honolulu in the Hawaiian Winter League, Bard threw 16 innings in 16 games. He allowed four runs on eight hits while striking out 15. "I was throwing one- or two-inning outings, just coming in and blowing it out and letting my stuff take over. To be honest, my command and stuff all jumped up when I was out there, whether it was a confidence thing or being more aggressive facing hitters."

An unnamed GM:
It's a terrible market to trade Coco. There were like eight to 10 free agents on the market and some are still out there ... teams probably would prefer to pay ... instead of having to give up talent for someone like Crisp.
If everyone stays healthy, it's possible the Red Sox will have Jacoby Ellsbury start the season in Pawtucket, so as to limit his service time and allow the club to retain control over him for another season.

7 comments:

SoSock said...

I'm still having a hard time seeing Colon as a starter in his present incarnation. (translated - shape) Not sure why there doesn't even seem to be discussion about his potential in the pen. The move doesn't seem to have been too bad for Bard.
Interesting news about Bard.
I wonder how that will work out.
I was thrilled when the Sox got him because he was a Diamond Heel as they call the UNC ballplayers. I saw them twice his senior year, but he didn't pitch either game, although I did see Andrew Miller one of those games. I did get to see Bard in the state HS playoffs back in 01 or 02.
His brother Jared was even more successful at Charlotte Christian than Daniel was and is now a sophmore at UNC. It will be fun to see if he gets drafted as well

SoSock said...

Kudos to a poster on Soxaholics for this gem -
"Baseball will be so out of the closet when Wang goes up against Colon"
OK, that's my one, and it wasn't even really mine - no more I promise.

tim said...

I thought the Wang vs. Bush match up a couple years back was pretty awesome.

Jere said...

"I thought the Wang vs. Bush match up a couple years back was pretty awesome."

Oh right, when you could "C Wang go up against D Bush."

That whole 2005 Yankees "staff" was hilariously-named. When your Moose-Johnson goes from a Big Unit to a Small, Brown, Leiter Wang, you May have a case of the Sturtze. And without Mo Grooming, you'll end up at the Proctologist. Wright?

allan said...

That whole 2005 Yankees "staff" was hilariously-named. When your Moose-Johnson goes from a Big Unit to a Small, Brown, Leiter Wang...

In other words, the Yanks are a bunch of dicks.

Jere said...

Don't forget to use "dicks on the pond" in '08!

tim said...

hahaha man. too much.