Roccin' In Boston? by Jared Carrabis
Sox meet with Baldelli, offer contract to Japanese pitcher

With the departure of Coco Crisp via trade to help bolster the Red Sox bullpen and in turn handing over the fulltime starting job to Jacoby Ellsbury, the Red Sox are now without a fourth outfielder. According to Boston.com’s Nick Cafardo, Rocco Baldelli met with the Red Sox at Fenway Park to converse about the future of the outfielder’s playing career. Baldelli has an option remaining on his contract for the 2009 season for $6 million but the Rays chose not to pick up his option and instead bought him out for $4 million.

Baldelli suffered injuries worthy of some time on the disabled list in 2005 (torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee) and in 2007 (hamstring). In 2008, doctors discovered that Baldelli suffered from a mitochondrial disorder that caused extreme fatigue in his muscles. He remained out of action all season long before getting his first at bat on August 10 playing 13 games in the month of August with a .351 batting average. However, in 15 games in the month of September, Baldelli hit just .186 before going on to bat .200 in the postseason (.167 in World Series). The native of Rhode Island appeared in just 28 games for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008 and batted .263 in 80 at bats for the American League Champions.

Though he spent most of his days with a starting job in Tampa Bay, if Baldelli wishes for his baseball career to continue, he will surely have to serve as a fourth outfielder somewhere. After his return in 2008, he mostly appeared as a designated hitter for the Rays and occasionally was penciled in to play one of the corner outfield positions with some pinch-hit at bats mixed in. If the Red Sox decide that Rocco is their man for the fourth outfield position, then I’m sure they are making the right move. Of course, the Red Sox would have to bring him in at the right price.

In other news, according to a website dedicated to Japanese Professional Baseball, the Red Sox have met with 22-year-old Japanese pitcher, Junichi Tazawa. The Red Sox have reportedly offered the right-hander a $6 million contract. The Japanese amateur pitcher has attracted interest from a multitude of Major League teams but remains unsigned at the moment.

Due to the fact that Tazawa is not affiliated or connected with any professional Japanese baseball teams, he does not require a posting fee like many other Japanese free agents. Tazawa elected to pass on the Japanese draft in order to sign with a Major League team. The Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, and Atlanta Braves have all also shown interest in the Japanese pitcher while Boston, Seattle and Atlanta have been reported to have offered the 22-year-old a contract.

Out of all the Japanese players that could become Major Leaguers, Tazawa has the most potential along with having youth on his side. I couldn't dig up any stats on him anywhere, but I did however get to watch some video of him and he appears to have a pretty simple repertoire of pitches. From what I saw, his curveball has a sharp 12-6 break to it and he had a lively fastball with some pop.

Published on November 23, 2008

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