Braves Sign Saito

"New Braves closer Billy Wagner has a new set-up man. It's former Sox teammate Takashi Saito. He agreed today on a one-year deal worth $3 million. Given the season-to-season inconsistency of relievers, Saito should be fairly easy to replace and is not a great loss (Boston.com)."

This might not be a terrible thing for the Sox. I don't think most people thought he would be back, and most likely this means the Braves know they are going to lose relievers like Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez, both of whom I am sure the Sox will take a look at.

Red Sox 2 Rays 4 (13th)

Boston wasted a gem from Jon Lester last night, but this was a hard fought loss and these types of games happen. Lester left the game with the lead after going 6 innings letting up only 1 run on 3 hits with 10 Ks. The problem was that Garza was just as good letting up 2 runs over his 7 innings, as Boston's offense just not seem to have an answer for him.

The Rays were able to tie it at 2-2 in the 8th when Red Sox killer Evan Longoria hit a bomb off Bard, who had his first tough outing in a long time. The Rays and Red Sox bullpen were able to shut down each other until the 13th inning when once again Evan Longoria hit a bomb, this time off Saito, who you really can't blame as he was forced to pitch 2 innings since the Red Sox are short on relievers and there was really no one left. If the game had gone any longer the Sox were going to bring out Buchholz.

With the loss the Sox are now 1 1/2 games behind the Yankees for 1st place in the AL East, but I think we saw the coming out party for the Rays last night. They have kind of been the sleeping dragon all year, but if Garza can pitch like he did last night, and Kazmir continues to get healthy then this team is going to make this a 3 team race again quickly....

Red Sox 11 Nationals 3

Sox are so much better then the Nationals that it is hard to watch. Boston's bats exploded last night. Ellsbury went 4-4 with 3 RBIs, and Jason Bay continued his MVP like season going 4-6 with 3 RBIs including his 19th HR of the year as Boston walked all over the Nationals.

Penny wasn't great going 5 2/3 innings letting up 3 runs, but once he left the game the Sox bullpen shut the Nationals down. That's also when the Boston bats started heating up. It was 4-3 going into the 8th inning, but Boston put the game out of reach with a 6 run inning. Even with all the scoring the story of the game was Boston's bullpen once again being amazing. Delcarmen (who got the win), Okajima, Saito, and Bard combined to pitch 3 1/3 scoreless innings. You can really see the difference between a good team and a bad one when you see what their bullpen can do. The Nationals got a good start from Lannan, but the second he left the game the Sox crushed their bullpen.

With the win Boston is now 5 games over the Yankees and Jays for 1st place in the AL East.

Daily Red Sox Spring Training Update

Pirates 3 Red Sox 2

- Lester turned in a strong first spring training outing, allowing two hits in two innings. He threw 30 pitches, 19 for strikes. Interesting note was that Lester featured a lot of changeups. We heard that they are doing this to save is arm, because he pitched so many innings last season. It may also be a nice additions to Lester's arsenal of pitches. He only threw about 3-4 changeups a game last year, but with all this work may choose to use that pitch a lot more. If he does look for this strikeout totals to go up this season.

- Saito looked great in his first outing, going 1 innings with 2 Ks, while allowing only 1 hit. The Sox were really impressed with how much movement his pitches have. The only worry with him is going to be his health, but so far so good.

- The Sox hitting has not been good so far in spring training (Ortiz/Drew/Tek have not recorded a hit), but the lone bright spot has been the play of Jeff Bailey, who has been hitting the cover off the ball. He added another RBI in this game, and a lot of people didn't notice that Bailey is the reigning International League Most Valuable Player. Too bad there is really no spot for him on the team.

- Okajima looked good in his 1 inning of work. He threw a scoreless inning, with no hits and 1 K. So far the Sox look like their bullpen is going to be nasty this year.

The Sox are playing Tampa Bay today at 1:05pm on NESN.

Red Sox Updates

Rocco Baldelli has been working out, and everything is going as planned so far. Rocco has been battling channelopathy, which causes muscle fatigue. This stops Baldelli from playing everyday, and he gets exhausted very easily. The good news is that he is on a new "cocktail" that seems to be helping. Though Rocco still doesn't sound overly optimistic...

“It’s tough to put any expectations on myself the first week out there,” said Baldelli, who ran sprints in the outfield yesterday morning. “I’ll get a better idea of how much I can do as we go along. It won’t be as difficult as it was last year, but I just don’t know what to expect (Boston Globe).”

And neither can we. Baldelli has all the talent in the world, but never seems to be able to stay on the field. We should be used to this (Drew), but if somehow he can stay healthy enough to be the Sox 4th outfielder it would be a huge boost to this team since we all know J.D. will go down at some point.

The other player that we have been keeping an eye on is Takashi Saito. He is trying to overcome a partially torn ligament in his right elbow, and instead of surgery he opted to have injections. This guy really makes me nervous, because it kind of sounds like Curt Schilling last year. I hope he is able to produce, but I really feel that this guy is going to drop very fast. Boston does have a deep bullpen, but having Saito would be a nice boost, and make getting to Papelbon a lot easier.

Saito threw 33 pitches during an 8-minute mound session. He threw all kinds of pitches, and said he felt fine. He just wanted to prove he is healthy, so basically so far so good.

The Red Sox Holding A Grudge?

"Nikkan is reporting that Takashi Saito may be getting Manny Ramirez's No. 24. Saito wore No. 44 for the Dodgers last season but that is Jason Bay's number in Boston. Saito's next choice was No. 29, but that just went to John Smoltz. His other request was for No. 24, and "[Red Sox] seemed OK with me taking that number," according to the NikkanSports.com report translated to us by the Globe's Daigo Fujiwara (Boston.com)."

It will be weird seeing anyone else wearing #24, but I am fine with it. After Manny imploded the Sox last season, and then turned around and was the best baseball player in the MLB for the rest of the season, I say fuck it. I loved Manny to death, but he really did an awful thing, and I think he cost himself not only his number, but any chance of his number being retired by the Red Sox.

-BMack

Sox Sign Saito

Ken Rosenthal reports that the Red Sox have signed Takashi Saito to a one-year contract with a club option for 2010. The deal's worth between $1.5 and $2.5MM in 2009, but Saito could earn up to $7MM if he pitches well, according to Rosenthal's sources.

I love this signing. Only a couple years ago Saito was a premier closer in the league for the Dodgers. If not for injuries he still could be. Two years ago he had 39 saves and a 1.40 era, and last year he had 19 saves and 2.49 era but was injury plagued. With the addition of Saito, Littleton, and Ramirez the Sox have secured their bullpen completely. I expect Saito to be the set-up man, and for the Sox to eventually make Masterson a starter in the already full rotation.