December 6, 2012

Newest Member Of The Bullpen: Koji Uehara

The Red Sox and right-handed reliever Koji Uehara have agreed on a one-year contract ($4.25 million), pending a physical.

Uehara, who will turn 38 years old on April 3, has pitched for four seasons since coming over from Japan. In 2012, he had a 0.639 WHIP in 37 games for the Rangers. In 36 innings (injuries cut his season short), he walked only three batters, while striking out 43.

Peter Abraham says that the Red Sox "have coveted Uehara for years".

Marc Normandin, Over the Monster:
Despite spending his entire career in the AL East and AL West, in parks that favored hitters while in Camden and Arlington, he owns a 2.89 ERA, 153 ERA+, has struck out just under 10 batters per nine innings, and, most eye-poppingly, has punched out eight times as many hitters as he has walked.

8 comments:

allan said...

SoSHer sackamano:
"Among pitchers with at least 200 career innings, Uehara's 7.97 career K/BB ratio is the best in baseball history."

9casey said...

Bullpen is set , can they get a starting pitcher ?

tim said...

I like all the signings thus far. No "big splashes" and signing decent players for "reasonable" (for the red sox financial situation) salaries... hopefully they will build a solid mix of players - youth and vets - that produces wins, although it will certainly be all for naught as the Blue Jays have already clinched the world series.

The Canadian media told me so!

Jere said...

Did you guys see this video of Brian Cashman at the Winter Meetings?

Colin said...

Long-time viewer here...just mustering the Dutch courage at 8:35AM to post.

I think the deals, while nothing spectacular, are going to help detox the clubhouse from the taint that was Beckett and Co. Uehara was dependable for his time I noticed him with the Rangers and having at least one more reliable bullpen member can save whatever dearth is left for starting pitching. To be fair against the critics, I ALWAYS liked Mike Napoli even from his days with the Angels. He had that knack to get at a pitcher real well with a well-placed double or dare I say HR. I don't know too much over Victorino though but he didn't seem to run the gamut of issues in Philly before free agency.

Unfortunately the Sox still have to deal with the dead space that is John Lackey who is about as classy as Newt Gingrich.

allan said...

Things I Never Thought I'd Say (Part 21):

We should be more polite to Newt Gingrich.

Benjamin said...

It seems odd to trumpet having "coveted Uehara for years" in the context of a 38 year old pitcher. He's a good reliever (especially on a one-year deal for short money), but he isn't exactly a young player about to hit his prime.

To pick an unfair example, everyone coveted Rickey Henderson for years, but nobody's signing him to an MLB contract at 53.

johngoldfine said...

"We should be more polite to Newt Gingrich."

:)