Paul who?
You know, Paul Maholm . . . . the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher? Lifetime ERA of 4.36? Injured his shoulder last year, and went 0-5 after the All-Star break? Spent the last month of the season on the DL?
That Paul Maholm. Yup. Cherington wants to give him a shot at the rotation.
See, where Theo's strategy had been to blow all of the team's money (and then some) on a few big name, "sure thing" signings, Cherington's decided to try the opposite. His master plan is to sign up all the super-cheap guys you've never heard of, put them in a competition for the open roster spots, and hope that one or two of them turn out to have enough fire left to be serviceable. Then, he can let the rest of them go, and its just a few million down the drain.
Welcome to the 2012 Red Sox!
You know, Paul Maholm . . . . the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher? Lifetime ERA of 4.36? Injured his shoulder last year, and went 0-5 after the All-Star break? Spent the last month of the season on the DL?
That Paul Maholm. Yup. Cherington wants to give him a shot at the rotation.
See, where Theo's strategy had been to blow all of the team's money (and then some) on a few big name, "sure thing" signings, Cherington's decided to try the opposite. His master plan is to sign up all the super-cheap guys you've never heard of, put them in a competition for the open roster spots, and hope that one or two of them turn out to have enough fire left to be serviceable. Then, he can let the rest of them go, and its just a few million down the drain.
Welcome to the 2012 Red Sox!
Here's another one for you: Aaron Cook.
ReplyDeleteFor a team that seems to be in "win now" mode, they are certainly conducting their business like an organization that is looking to save money by getting out from under the luxury tax. Having said that, these are low-risk, potentially high-reward signings that don't prohibit the team from making additional moves in the future. I'm willing to wait and see what the team looks like when spring training starts. Having said that, the starting rotation isn't looking promising at the moment.
There are 79 big league pitchers who threw at least 1,000 innings in the last 10 years. Of those, Cook’s 3.8 strikeouts per nine innings represents the lowest mark in the majors.
ReplyDeletehttp://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2012/01/09/what-the-red-sox-got-in-aaron-cook/
Here's another one: Justin Germano. He threw a 5.68 ERA last year for the Cleveland Indians. Welcome to the Red Sox, Justin!
ReplyDeleteAnd, the Sox are now closing in on Vicente Padilla.
ReplyDeleteAs a Dodger, he was only able to start 16 games in 2010 due to injury, and appeared in only 9 games in 2011. No idea how he injures himself so often, because one of his pitches is an "eephus" pitch that travels 55 mph. No idea how you hurt yourself throwing that.
And, oh yeah. In 2009 he shot himself in the leg at a shooting range.