Saito signs with Red Sox

[dpapo]

Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Boston Red Sox has signed Takashi Saito.

 

"The deal was completed after Saito passed his physical on Friday. It includes a guarantee between $1.5 million and $2.5 million, the sources said, and Saito will have the chance to earn more than $7 million if he reaches all of his incentives."

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/...free-agent-reliever-Saito-

[yoshii8]

It seems like Boston is signing a lot of guys coming off of injury in hopes that a few pan out. I was hoping Melvin would take a chance on Saito, every time I've seen him he's looked pretty unhittable.

[twobrewers]

I freakin' hate the Red Sox!

 

They are signing all of these injured players to one year deals. Because the Rex Sox have so much money, they can easily afford the one year risk. About 1/2 will probably pan out.

 

Then the Red Sox will offer them arbitration and collect the draft picks when all these players leave next season.

[strawbossisevil]

I definitely think the Red Sox have approached this offseason with a lot more smarts than the Yankees. Signing Baldelli, Penny, Smoltz, and now Saito to very cheap deals. Like twobrewers said, not only could this stack their team if those players are healthy, but all the one year contracts makes it possible that in a year they could stack their minor league system as well.

 

Instead of dishing out three huge deals like the Yankees, the Red Sox used their smarts to buy low. I think many of these moves were absolutely brilliant by Epstein. While he may have more resources than the Brewers, at least I think we can at least admit that he seems to be using his resources very resourcefully.

[Tbadder]

I love the Red Sox strategy. They are going to end up sticking it to the Yankees.

 

On the other hand the Brewers could be taking the same strategy in order to get draft choices--short-sighted on their part.

[kramnoj]

On the other hand the Brewers could be taking the same strategy in order to get draft choices--short-sighted on their part.

 

Would you rather spend millions of guaranteed money and not have any confidence that Smoltz can pitch effectively? I would rather save that money and see if Sheets falls back to the Brewers, or save money for a mid-season pickup. As far as Penny is concerned, Penny had similar offers and chose the Red Sox because they were one of the best teams pursuing him. I don't really see anything short sighted there.

[PeaveyFury]

On the other hand the Brewers could be taking the same strategy in order to get draft choices--short-sighted on their part.

 

Isn't acquiring draft picks looking to the long term practically by definition? I don't see how that can possibly be viewed as short-sighted.

[RyDogg66]

These are great moves by the Red Sox. There is hardly any such thing as "risk" on a one year deal, especially at the prices the Red Sox are signing these guys at. I havent added up all the deals, but it cant be THAT much more than we ponied up for Gagne last year. The Brewers could be doing this if they wanted to. The Sox have built great depth with these moves, it isnt like they are acquiring potential free agents in trades for next to nothing because the salaries are so high nobody else can compete (like the Yankees do; see Abreu, Nady, Pudge, etc.)

[Gobias Industries]

A 1 year deal with a team option would have been awesome for us. Saito might be the best in the game when he's healthy.

[monty57]

Isn't acquiring draft picks looking to the long term practically by definition? I don't see how that can possibly be viewed as short-sighted.

I believe he's saying that the Brewers are being short-sighted by not taking the long term view (going for the draft picks).

There is hardly any such thing as "risk" on a one year deal, especially at the prices the Red Sox are signing these guys at.

Some (or possibly even all) of these guys could sit out the much or all of the season injured. The Red Sox would still have to pay them. Also, if the player misses the season or performs at a low level due to an injury, they will likely not be Type A FAs. Maybe not even Type B. Finally, if the player is healthy enough to play, but plays poorly because of rushing back from a major injury, they have to take up a 25-man roster spot. Those are a few of the potential risks. Not saying it isn't worth doing, but there are definitely risks involved in signing injured players.

The Brewers could be doing this if they wanted to.

The Brewers tried to sign Smoltz, but we were low on his list of destinations. I'd rather have a 100% healthy Hoffman than a big question mark in Saito. The Brewers are on a budget and the pressing needs now are finding a SP and a 4th/5th OF. Saito doesn't fill either of these needs. Baldelli would have been a good acquisition (in my opinion), but it seems like he wanted to play closer to home in Boston, so I doubt he would have chosen Milwaukee.

[Tbadder]

Yes, I was trying to say (very poorly) that we need to maximize draft picks wherever possible. I'm hoping that Cameron nets us picks next year and that Shouse still gets us a pick this year.

 

I didn't realize we were in on Smoltz--bravo Dougie!

 

I think we could've signed Saito if we had guaranteed a little more. Of course it's difficult to know exactly what someone else is offerring. But still...

 

And I totally buy into that Milwaukee is not an attractive destination for the vast majority of players.

[monty57]

I should clarify that I don't know if there was ever much in terms of formal conversations, but Smoltz's name was up there with Randy Johnson as "possibilities" that were unlikely due to the player wanting to play elsewhere. I know I read an article where Melvin talked about Johnson, where we met "4 of his 5 criteria, but weren't on the West coast" and I believe Smoltz was mentioned in that same article. I held out hope for one of them as long as I could, but eventually had to succumb to the reality that they wouldn't be pitching for the Brewers.