When searching for a veteran left-handed reliever, Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein had two options. He could have spent $15 million on three years of Brian Fuentes or he could have brought back Hideki Okajima for one-year at a minimal salary.
Like when Indiana Jones was deciding which Grail would him eternal life in The Last Crusade, Epstein chose wisely.
After non-tendering Okajima a contract in December, the Red Sox brought him back on a one-year contract according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Yes, Fuentes is a better overall pitcher than Okajima, but paying a guy who is a good closer on a small market team $15 to $18 million over three years would have been ridiculous. I know the Red Sox are going all in this year, but that would have been just silly.
The Red Sox will hope that Okajima can reverse this four-year trend of going backward. Since bursting onto the scene in 2006, Okajima has seen his ERA increase each year, H/9 increase each year, WHIP increase each year, and his K/9 decrease each of the last three seasons.
Okajima really bottomed out by his standards in 2010 when he posted a 3.44 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, 6.5 K/9, and 3.9 BB/9 in 46 innings of work. He really struggled against right-handed batters as they crushed him to the tune of a .340/.396/.540 slash line. He didn’t fare much better against left-handed batters either as they hit him around to a .284/.357/.375 slash line.
With the addition of Bobby Jenks, Okajima will have a different role for the Red Sox in 2011 than he has had in years past. He won’t face as many right-handed batters as in years past and if Okajima can pitch to left-handed batters as well as his career line indicates in can (.214 batting average against), then he will have value to the Boston bullpen in 2011.
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