Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Our man is on the way...

Despite what the clueless Mike and the Mad Dog people are saying, Matsuzaka has been given permission to join the Major Leagues NEXT YEAR. He will be posted. Someone will buy his rights. He will pitch for that team in 2007.

I'll use this opportunity to plug my blog Matsuzaka Watch. It is your definitive source on everything Matsuzaka. Stop by. Browse around. Learn about the next great thing to hit US soil from Japan since PlayStation 3. I'll be on this story and more at Matsuzaka Watch, so keep checking back. I will try to do a recap of the issues surrounding the player, his posting, and the chances the Yankees have of acquiring him in the coming future. In the meantime, head over and do your homework.




His 2006 stats and game log. Ratios at the bottom(click to enlarge):

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike, what happened on 6/24? He only went 0.2 innings. Did he get hurt or was he working out of the bullpen on that day?

Mike Plugh said...

He got hurt. He had a tight groin while he was warming up and tried to give it a go. It didn't work out, so they examined him, held him out a start to recupe, and he went back to action the next time through the rotation.

Typical pitcher stuff.

Anonymous said...

Maybe he caught a bit of a break in BABIP, but the other peripherals are stellar.

Look at that K/BB, and compare with Zito.

Now, why is anyone interested in Zito? He's definitely 2nd prize, whatever he's done in the majors. Five years from now (barring injury) Matsuzaka will still be an ace, whatever troubles he may or may not have adjusting to ball in the States at first, while fans of Zito's team may find themselves with a really expensive #2/3 guy (well, that hits home).

Go get him, Yanks. You guys need pitching, this is pitching.

Anonymous said...

So if we do indeed sign this guy, who *else* should the Yanks go after - if not Zito, that is?

-pistolpete

Anonymous said...

What happened during his last outing? Just a bad game I assume?

Mike Plugh said...

The last regular season outing was just a stinker. Unfortunately, it cost the team the division and a chance to play in the series for the pennant. He came back and pitched a complete game shutout in a 1-0 victory over SoftBank and likely 2006 Sawamura Award winner Kazumi Saito to help his team inch closer to the aforementioned pennant series, but the rest of the rotation coughed it up.

Anonymous said...

Mike what do you think the Yanks should do over the offseason. Aside for Matsuzaka who should they pick up. i was thinking of JUstin Spier if the Jays don't resign him. He is a proven AL East set up man and we could have Proctor for the seventh Farnsworth and Spier platooning the eight and Mo for the ninth. As well he is a lefty which would balance out the relievers a little bit. Aside from him the pen doesn't really nead anyone as Beam and Cox should appear fairly early in the year with Justin pope and Jose Veras also bieng possabilities. As for the rotation I think that people are taking it a little too far. Wang, Matsuzaka, Mussina, Jhonson, Rasner is definately top 10 major league staffs especially with Hughes coming at the ens of the year and T Clip earlier. The offense will produce ( at least in the regular season) and the D is steadily getting better. Cano has the talent to be Gold Glove at his position and Cabrera has looked very good in left. A look at the metrics will tell you that with Cabrera beside him Damons' range becomes above average and his D should be at least a little bit better as the broken bone in his fot heals. Abreu is very solid defensively and A Rod after that horrible series of errors was much better the rest of the year. Jeter is solid if not great with the only weak links bieng Posada and Giambi. When Matsui is in the field the D takes a hit but before he got injured he was actually quietly having superb defensive season. Matsuzaka and Spier need to be signed. Mussina and Guiel resigned. Chris Woodward singned and andy Canizaro promoted to take Miggy Cairos job will keep the bench the same if not make it better. We still need a backup catcher and my choice would be Greg Zaun but the jays will propably resign him so any decent defensive catcher preferably with pop will do. Please Mke your thoughts on these changes and what you would do to he Yankees this offseason.

Fred Vincy said...

Those pitch counts terrify me, given the magnitude of financial commitment involved. Do you know if that's typical of his usage over the last few years -- perhaps suggesting he can "take it" -- or was this a case of a team in a pennant race blowing out a guy they knew wouldn't be back?

Matt said...

Hey Mike,
Found this, courtesy of Deadspin.com... it looks as though CBS has already decided where Matsuzaka will play:

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/players/playerpage/1145060

Thought you'd find that funny.