January 22, 200422 yr Wow, just wow. Stats: http://www.japanesebaseball.com/players/pl...sp?PlayerID=310
January 22, 200422 yr Just answered my question and also "The 34-year-old right-hander, who throws sidearm and relies on a sinkerball, led the Central League with 34 saves last season. He has 260 saves, passing Kazuhiro Sasaki last year for the No. 1 spot in Japan." from MSNBC Sinkerballer
January 22, 200422 yr Did I miss something? Where does it see that he will automatically be given the closer's role? I don't think you sign a 35-yr old pitcher for $1 million and expect him to immediately become the closer. My guess is he will have to earn it or be a setup guy.
January 22, 200422 yr I see what I missed. Perhaps he will be given the role, however my guess is he will still have to earn it on some level.
January 22, 200422 yr He's right handed and apparently the Yankees were offering a lot more money, but he wanted a chance to be a closer. BTW, he's a sidearm type pitcher.
January 22, 200422 yr I dunno, I think some here are getting carries away, what with all the closer pojections or what. If he only has 3.00 ERA in a set-up role, with a 10/40 bb:so ratio in 50 innings of set-up duty, Il'l be satisfied.
January 22, 200422 yr Damn! With his stats (ERA and Saves from the last couple of years) I would take him anytime! This is a big surprise that we got somebody who other teams really wanted.
January 22, 200422 yr I'm going to quote Ncorgbl from whitesox.com message boards, as he just posted. It means someone opened their mouth before they were supposed to. Please, wait for the official announcement and details. This was in reply to a poster wondering about Koch's future.
January 22, 200422 yr If we are letting go of KOCH, we better get a good trade. other teams wants him and make them outbid each other.
January 22, 200422 yr Well no one obviously saw this coming. We wouldn't sign this guy unless we knew w're going to trade someone away. So I expect a trade to result from this soon.
January 22, 200422 yr at first i was excited about the move now its wait and see. hes the japanese saves leader though.
January 22, 200422 yr It should probably be noted that this guy had a 1.50 WHIP last season. 21 BB in 42 innings is almost Dan Wright-ish. Good pickup for the price, though.
January 22, 200422 yr If a Koch trade does go down, do Montreal/Pittsburgh have any decent prospects? I just looked through Rotoworld's top 100 and there ain't no one cept for Matthew Hinckley that looks interesting. Though I suppose we'd just be trading Koch for just any old person and just trying to dump the payroll....
January 22, 200422 yr I think we have a right handed Kelly Wunch on our hands, IMO he's not closer material and he'll lose his 'given' closer spot in ST.
January 22, 200422 yr Whitesox.com claims he won't be the closer right away: Shingo Takatsu, the all-time saves leader in Japan, will be in Chicago on Thursday for a physical, and if he passes, will sign a one-year deal with the White Sox that includes an option for 2005. Takatsu would come in as a set-up man, but if closer Billy Koch struggles, Takatsu could take over the late-inning job. That was the teaser for the full story, which you can read here
January 22, 200422 yr I hope this guy is the answer. It can't hurt giving him a shot, but if he sucks I hope we make him a middle reliever.
January 22, 200422 yr "Shingo is not afraid of being emotional," Urbon said. "He's very charismatic and very competitive. He's a bulldog out there." Is it too early to wonder if Shingo will be at Soxfest
January 22, 200422 yr According to CBS Sportsline the Sox signed Japan's all time saves leader, to be a closer. its about time we got involved with Asian ball palyers - lots of talent and lots of new fan interest
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