Naoyuki Uwasawa Offer Being Prepared?

[Sports Guy]

3 minutes ago, baltfan said:

I don't know why anyone has an issue with this.  The Rays take pitchers like this and turn them into valuable contributors.  When they do, everyone marvels.

Well, they do but they don’t do it with pitchers with little to no upside. Whether this guy has upside or not is tbd but not many Ks or missed bats and a higher BB rate isn’t exactly screaming out as someone you turn into a valuable contributor.

[sportsfan8703]

Wada was the guy we signed before, but he never made it up to us.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=wada--001tsu

[Just Regular]

Decision Sciences having global rigor hopefully will help us beat the league some this decade, even if the gaps last decade that let HOU acquire Framber, Javier, Urquidy and Garcia for peanuts are smaller now.

Irvin, Wells and Hall already are a few pitchers whose 2024 best use might be ~100 innings....Uwasawa could be another.

The '23 Giants threw Manaea 117, Alex Wood 97, Stripling 89, Jakob Junis 86, and I've heard that group of pitchers had a range of feelings whether that deployment pattern was something they could live with/thrive in, or were suffering under.

 

[interloper]

2 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Wada was the guy we signed before, but he never made it up to us.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=wada--001tsu

He ended up pitching pretty well for Chicago when he finally got a chance. 

Dude threw 105 innings with a 3.34 ERA at 42 years old last season in Japan. Wow! 

[jamalshw]

Conspiracy theory time (aka- this is not at all true but it's the offseason and I'm bored without real baseball)

The Orioles sign Uwasawa to a low dollar/risk contract in hopes of getting utility out of him, but also to show a multi-year commitment to a Japanese player. Yamamoto has expressed he wants to join a team with a Japanese player on the roster. 

Again...this is NO WAY the case and I don't believe for a second the Orioles are in on Yamamoto....but I'm bored. (Also, the easier answer would be just resigning Fujinami)...but still....

[interloper]

2 minutes ago, jamalshw said:

Conspiracy theory time (aka- this is not at all true but it's the offseason and I'm bored without real baseball)

The Orioles sign Uwasawa to a low dollar/risk contract in hopes of getting utility out of him, but also to show a multi-year commitment to a Japanese player. Yamamoto has expressed he wants to join a team with a Japanese player on the roster. 

Again...this is NO WAY the case and I don't believe for a second the Orioles are in on Yamamoto....but I'm bored. (Also, the easier answer would be just resigning Fujinami)...but still....

As someone who wouldn't mind giving Fuji another chance, I say sign all three of em. Let's become the next go-to destination for Japanese players, that would be awesome. 

Edited November 28, 2023 by interloper

[sportsfan8703]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwYAw3ssFRg/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Diveline trainee that recently improved his splitter. Fits what we like. And he’ll be an optionable arm. It looks like a slick little pickup for bullpen depth with SP upside. 

[MarCakes21]

22 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

Wei-Yin Chen: The Next Generation?

The original was great!

 

I was thinking Koji, let his stuff play on the back end

[wildcard]

59 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

If they are having sticker shock, they should be fired.

If everyone got fired that you say should get fired no-one would be working.

[Moose Milligan]

It all depends on how the rest of the offseason shakes out if we sign this guy.  If, when training camp starts, he looks like a guy who is a guy with a chance to make the roster and could contribute, that's fine.  But if he looks like more of a centerpiece offseason acquisition, IMO, that's a problem.

[Moose Milligan]

Just now, wildcard said:

If everyone got fired that you say should get fired no-one would be working.

That's true.  And then the Orioles would be scouring the message board to look for potential hires, see his genius wheeling and dealing in hypothetical trades and decide to make him an offer without interviewing.

[Aristotelian]

296 million yen sounds more impressive. Would a guy like this come with options? He may have starter upside but I can't imagine handing him a rotation spot. 

[Sports Guy]

10 minutes ago, wildcard said:

If everyone got fired that you say should get fired no-one would be working.

If he is that far removed from the market and had/has no idea what it was going to bear, that should make anyone question him.

Luckily, Elias isn’t a moron so sticker shock isn’t even remotely a possibility here.

He may not want to pay things but that’s entirely different than being shocked. No one should be shocked by sports salaries, especially those within the industry who do it for a living.

And nothing has been shocking anyway.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Sports Guy

[Sports Guy]

31 minutes ago, MarCakes21 said:

I was thinking Koji, let his stuff play on the back end

Koji came here with a rep of K’ing guys and having excellent control. This guy doesn’t have that.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Sports Guy

[wildcard]

44 minutes ago, jamalshw said:

If it's a couple years and a couple million a year, I like it on it's own, but not as the only SP move. What it means to me is that the Orioles are not legitimately planning on considering Wells or Hall in the rotation so Uwasawa would be a depth sign. He'd be given a chance to win the 5th spot against Kremer (the obvious favorite for it) and Irvin. The losers of the battle go to the bullpen to bolster the pen and provide multi-inning guys there which can give Hyde options if he wants to go short on Grayson or Means on occasion to help minimize innings. The Orioles were also VERY lucky in SP injuries this past year which is unlikely to be the case next year so it gives additional options when inevitable injuries hit. 

Overall, it's a low risk move and if the Orioles see something in his repertoire that they can maximize, it is well worth it. BUT...if this is THE starting pitching move, that's an issue. Uwasawa as depth and a bit of a lottery ticket to see how his stuff plays in the MLB. Add E-Rod as well for the more certain option after Bradish. Pick up an extra reliever for the back-end and call it a day. 

 

Isn't this what fans were saying last year.  OK with signing Gibson but they needed to add a better starter also.   Turns out it was Gibson and Irvin and they won 101.

One thing that seems to happen is the improvement comes from the prospects.