Wada's Return May Be Sooner than Expected: Showalter

[Can_of_corn]

Can't believe some of you want to give up on a japanese superstar pitcher, you're really that content with TJ, Garcia, Gausman? Wada has more upside than them right now. Remember in ST when Buck said he has #2 stuff

Buck has never been known to talk up one of his players.

Here are some questions for you. If Wada was so much of a sure thing how come the O's ended up with him? Why was there no bidding war? Why didn't his team put him through the posting process before he hit free agency so they could make mad $?

[Going Underground]

Can't believe some of you want to give up on a japanese superstar pitcher, you're really that content with TJ, Garcia, Gausman? Wada has more upside than them right now. Remember in ST when Buck said he has #2 stuff

Superstar? More upside then Gausman?

A scout from outside the organization saw one of Wada's early outings for the Tides and compared him more to Bruce Chen than Wei-Yin Chen.

"He's a finesse left-hander," the scout said. "The guy really has four pitches - fastball, curve, slider and changeup. He really mixes his stuff and moves the ball around the zone. He locates fairly well. He knows how to pitch. He's got pretty good command, a pretty good feel for pitching. But the thing is, his stuff, he doesn't have anything plus. And if anything, his best stuff, his slider and change, were very fringy.

"He's got a funky short-arm, no-windup delivery and kind of pushes the ball. It's not really pretty watching him. He's 84-88 mph, pitched at 85-86. His curveball was below average. The best thing he did was, his slider versus lefties was fairly effective. His change was 77-80. Nothing to really get excited about."

This report is similar to what the scout's organization saw while scouting Wada in Japan.

"We had him as a finesse, fringy fifth starter guy, more a long relief, spot starter type," he said. "I don't think what I was seeing (at Norfolk) was a consequence of the Tommy John surgery.

"He does compete. He knows how to pitch. He locates fairly well. He was worth the gamble. When he came in, (Miguel) Gonzalez wasn't there, (Wei-Yin) Chen wasn't established, (Jason) Hammel wasn't there yet. So he was worth the gamble. And it wasn't a lot of money. They didn't risk much, in the grand scheme of things. It's not like giving someone four years and $55 million.

"One thing I'll say is I don't think there's any pressure on them in terms of having to bring him up. I think they'll do what they want to do and not be pressured. There's not that much money at stake there, and they're trying to win. That takes priority over everything. He could surface and they could say, 'Let's give him a couple starts and maybe catch lightning in a bottle.'

"He's not that bad. He's OK. Just no real out pitch, no plus pitch. He's going to have a lot of trouble getting big league hitters out with that stuff. He could fool them a little, but once they see there's not enough fastball, they'll be able to hit his other stuff easier. They won't respect the fastball."

http://www.masnsports.com/school_of_roch/2013/06/whats-the-latest-on-wada.html

[Grt 2BA FL Gator]

Buck has never been known to talk up one of his players.

Here are some questions for you. If Wada was so much of a sure thing how come the O's ended up with him? Why was there no bidding war? [/b] Why didn't his team put him through the posting process before he hit free agency so they could make mad $?

So what are we saying about Chen then with these types of questions.. He's turned out to be pretty effective, wouldn't you say?

[Can_of_corn]

So what are we saying about Chen then with these types of questions.. He's turned out to be pretty effective, wouldn't you say?

I would say that Chen has exceeded industry expectations. Chen also had a downturn in velocity due to some injuries, that may have effected his value.

[Il BuonO]

That one line from the scout, "....it's really not pretty watching him," makes me laugh, but I really only care if he can help the team get guys out.

And everything else the scout says makes me think his only shot of doing that would be out of the pen. Then who does he displace? McFarland? Doubtful. I would think because he's younger and has similar stuff he holds more value. Maybe Patton, but he's pitched better of late.

Hard to find a place where he fits.

[waroriole]

And everything else the scout says makes me think his only shot of doing that would be out of the pen. Then who does he displace? McFarland? Doubtful. I would think because he's younger and has similar stuff he holds more value. Maybe Patton, but he's pitched better of late.

Hard to find a place where he fits.

It could be that TJ comes down with a lower back strain for a little while........or Patton.

[Tony-OH]

It could be that TJ comes down with a lower back strain for a little while........or Patton.

I could see a McFarland "injury" coming up in the near future.

[claudecat]

I could see a McFarland "injury" coming up in the near future.

I'd rather see that happen to Patton. At least McFarland has been effective when starting an inning clean at times and can go long. Not so much for Patton - he scares me more than Strop recently.

[Crazysilver03]

I could see a McFarland "injury" coming up in the near future.

Why? TJ has actually been useful this year.

[DrungoHazewood]

Here are some questions for you. If Wada was so much of a sure thing how come the O's ended up with him? Why was there no bidding war? Why didn't his team put him through the posting process before he hit free agency so they could make mad $?

I don't think Wada is or was a sure thing, but he was the more highly regarded pitcher between him and Chen. He was more successful in Japan. He was very good in Japan.

Does every Japanese pitcher spark a bidding war? I don't think Koji did. Iwakuma got a bit more money, but not some crazy "bidding war" contract and he's been pretty spectacular. Saito was very good and never made $4M in any MLB season. Takahashi came over and went 10-6 with the Mets, one-and-a-half wins his first year, and was paid a cool $1M. Seems to me that the uncertainty in the translation of Japanese pitchers, and the fact they're not free agents until they're usually in their mid-30s limits their pricetags. Wada got a contract in line with a lot of other very productive pitchers making the transition from Japan.

And you're really going to the "if he was any good then how come the O's ended up with him?" line? That's ridiculous, even in the bad old days it was never true that players only come to Baltimore when they had no other choice - they always got some good players on the open (or semi-open) market. Are you going to argue Koji was/is no good? Chen? That they tricked Markakis and Jones and Roberts into re-upping?

Japanese teams often decline or refuse to post their players because they want to win baseball games. They're under no obligation to let players go, and there's no guarantee they'll recoup their losses when they pick up a signing fee but lose their ace. That's almost like asking why the Orioles don't trade all their good young players a year or two from free agency to the Yanks or Sox or Angels. Because they'd rather play good ball.

[Can_of_corn]

Koji was a similar situation as Wada, other teams viewed him as a reliever and Baltimore offered them a chance to start.

You will of course be aware that Koji has spent the vast majority of time in MLB as a reliever.

[DrungoHazewood]

Koji was a similar situation as Wada, other teams viewed him as a reliever and Baltimore offered them a chance to start.

You will of course be aware that Koji has spent the vast majority of time in MLB as a reliever.

What does that have to do with anything? Are you saying the Orioles were the only team that would have given Wada a chance to start? That's speculative. I'm not even sure I buy the idea that nobody else would have tried Koji as a starter.

[Can_of_corn]

What does that have to do with anything? Are you saying the Orioles were the only team that would have given Wada a chance to start? That's speculative. I'm not even sure I buy the idea that nobody else would have tried Koji as a starter.

In both cases I recall that:

1-Other teams viewed them as relievers

2-The O's offering them an opportunity to start was a factor in signing with them.

I am not saying that no other team would have given them the opportunity.

[Malike]

In both cases I recall that:

1-Other teams viewed them as relievers

2-The O's offering them an opportunity to start was a factor in signing with them.

I am not saying that no other team would have given them the opportunity.

I absolutely remember this to be the case. I don't have time to dig up articles, but I distinctly remember that Wada for sure was viewed as a reliever and he wanted the chance to start.

[DrungoHazewood]

In both cases I recall that:

1-Other teams viewed them as relievers

2-The O's offering them an opportunity to start was a factor in signing with them.

I am not saying that no other team would have given them the opportunity.

I absolutely remember this to be the case. I don't have time to dig up articles, but I distinctly remember that Wada for sure was viewed as a reliever and he wanted the chance to start.

Wada's last year in Japan he was 16-5 with a 1.51 and was the #1 starter on a team that went 88-46. I'm going to go out on a limb and say the O's weren't the only team willing to give him at least an opportunity to show he maybe could start.