Orioles closing in on Japanese lefty Tsuyoshi Wada (Update: Wada is signed)

[UMDTerrapins]

But how? ST stats are pretty meaningless.

I think if they are healthy...BMat, Britton and Arrieta should be handed spots. People are so obsessed with one season and the failure to see big picture really boggles my mind.

Give me those 3, Wada and Chen and make that the rotation. Have Hunter and Simon in the pen...BB and Eveland in AAA.

Trade Guthrie.

Agree with this. Wouldn't mind another wild card signing for SP depth (as much as Duchscherer was a waste of time, I still support that kind of low risk gamble).

[NewMarketSean]

So this guy is a SP???

[Frobby]

But how? ST stats are pretty meaningless.

I think if they are healthy...BMat, Britton and Arrieta should be handed spots. People are so obsessed with one season and the failure to see big picture really boggles my mind.

Give me those 3, Wada and Chen and make that the rotation. Have Hunter and Simon in the pen...BB and Eveland in AAA.

Trade Guthrie.

I don't worry too much about ST stats, but the coaches can see who is throwing well and who isn't. If Matusz looks like he looked in the Spring of 2010, I suspect he'll be in the rotation. If he's struggling with velocity or command, then he won't. Nobody's going to put him in the rotation if he isn't looking sharp, after last year's debacle.

[maudibjr]

Here's the other, younger guy, Wei-Yin Chen.

I have learned that 'Kar ar ba sha shen' means strikeout.

/I have no earthly idea how to spell that

[Brendan25]

But how? ST stats are pretty meaningless.

I think if they are healthy...BMat, Britton and Arrieta should be handed spots. People are so obsessed with one season and the failure to see big picture really boggles my mind.

Give me those 3, Wada and Chen and make that the rotation. Have Hunter and Simon in the pen...BB and Eveland in AAA.

Trade Guthrie.

I think if Matusz pitched to an ERA in the 5.00's, fans would be more willing to give him a spot going into next season, but it was such a historically bad season. I understand he wasn't healthy, could have been rushed back, he is better then that. It still put a bad taste in fans mouths.

[NewMarketSean]

Don't overlook Hunter. He is what we need in the rotation...a strike thrower. If you want to start him in the BP, that's fine, but Hunter would be a #4 or a #5 on better teams than the Orioles so he should at least be considered for the rotation in 2012.

[clapdiddy]

But how? ST stats are pretty meaningless.

I think if they are healthy...BMat, Britton and Arrieta should be handed spots. People are so obsessed with one season and the failure to see big picture really boggles my mind.

Give me those 3, Wada and Chen and make that the rotation. Have Hunter and Simon in the pen...BB and Eveland in AAA.

Trade Guthrie.

Agree with this. IF we add Chen as well, we'll have enough depth to deal Guthrie. The other thing is that we would be able to deal Guthrie for players that aren't necessarily MLB-ready. He would have the luxury of dealing Guts for lower-level players with more upside.

[NewMarketSean]

Sorry...all these Asian names are confusing the hell out of me. Are we talking about Bruce Chen? Or another Chen???

[Brendan25]

Sorry...all these Asian names are confusing the hell out of me. Are we talking about Bruce Chen? Or another Chen???

:rofl:

[Lester Freamon]

So this guy is a SP???

Is/was a starter in Japan, as Koji was. Remains to be seen what type of role will work best with the O's.

[Peace21]

Free egg rolls for everyone!!!!

[murph]

Glad to see this signing, a little disappointed this is our biggest signing so far....

On another note, I shouldn't have just taken my daughter to see the muppets, all I can hear is fonzy saying...wada, wada

[Brendan25]

They wouldn't pay him that contract as a reliever, would they?

[Fan4Life]

I'm for adding Wada and Chen, keeping Guts and sending BM to Seattle in a deal for Smoak. I may want to wait and see if we've won the Darvish bid ( ) on Thursday before pulling that trigger.

[UMDTerrapins]

Regarding Matusz, what bugged me about 2011 was that the most unique part of his delivery was smoothed over.

In 2010, when Matusz was on, he had a cool hitch in his delivery, like a semi-pause before pushing forward off his back leg. It screwed up the hitters timing and made his pitches look quicker. It also looked like a timing and command mechanism for him. What I noticed about 2010 was that in later innings, that hitch seemed to get less pronounced, and he became more hittable. His command also suffered as he tired, maybe due to him losing his rhythm and the hitch timing.

In 2011, that hitch almost always looked to be smoothed over. It seemed like they were trying to get rid of the most unique part of his delivery as a fault, rather than what made him so unique. He just looked like a medium throwing lefty with command issues.....nothing special at all.

I hope they let him start 2012 trying to get him back to repeating the delivery consistently that he had when arrived in Baltimore. I still think he can be a damn good pitcher if the O's don't try to over-coach him.