Braves Sign Kenshin Kawakami

Lowe isn't an ace either, although he is certainly better than Kawakami.

I wanna take that link out on a date. Have some fish, some liquor, maybe make some bad decisions...see what happens.

Lowe is not an unquestioned ace but he's borderline 1/2 pitcher. Certainly better than what the Braves have at the top right now. Not everybody can put a Johan Santana or CC Sabathia in their number one spot

Baleen,

With all of the agony of this offseason so far, you managed to make me laugh. Maybe Wren will come out of this with a little bit of dignity.

Oh I'm sorry astral.

God forbid, I use a useful stat. How about FIP?

Burnett: 3.79, 4.33, 3.45
Lowe: 3.68, 3.97, 3.26

How about a crappy stat, ERA.

Burnett: 3.98, 3.75, 4.07
Lowe: 3.63, 3.88, 3.24

Looks equal or better to me.

If the Braves sign Kawakami, will all the needless Wren bashing stop?

Melonis Rex,
I've never bashed Wren in any of my posts. If fact I've always defended him in relation to Peavy, Burnett, and Furcal. His two moves last offseason were genius, and I believe he has the organization in the right direction. That being said it is crucial that he gets Lowe, Kawakami, and an outfield bat.

"If the Braves sign Kawakami, will all the needless Wren bashing stop?"

I doubt it. It's been going on here since the Braves bungled up the peavy talks by not wanting to give anything away and letting the Cubs waltz in big time and then Towers changing his mind period with regards to trading peavy and now Smoltzie.. jeez.. Maybe Peavy he bungled, but not Jones and Smoltz.

The Braves are going to get nearly as good a starter in Kawakami more than likely as they would in Lowe and save what? 5-6 million a year at least and they don't have to deal with Boras to boot. Sounds like a good deal here, especially when Kawakami can be an ambassador for future Japanese players wanting to maybe come to Atlanta.

This article makes it seem like its Kawakami or Lowe but i've been getting the impression their trying to get both which in my opinion would be great.

i would suggest putting him in the 5th starter spot though so he can adjust easier and they can keep tabs on his innings since in his last season he pitched 118 innings or something like that in a 6 man rotation. so something like

1. Lowe
2. Vazquez
3. Jair
4. Campillo/Glavine
5. Kawakami

it would benefit them highly so that way they dont feel pressured to rush Hanson to the majors and he can spend the season or at least start it in AAA.

Sign Derek Lowe at 4/65 and sign Kawakami 4/20 and sign Abreu 3/25

Does anyone think that the Braves will make a run at Matt Holliday next off-season and Peavy when he hits the open market?

Rotation order really does not matter. It's quality of the pitchers in the rotation that matters.

Braves will not make a run at Holliday because he would block their OF prospects. the only way that happens is if Frenchy sucks like Andruw did this year and they get rid of him.

I personally would rather give up a little bit of talent for Ludwick/Swisher/Nady all of which are younger than Abreu and less of an injury risk.

However if it came down to having to sign him i wouldnt cry because looking at his stats he hits leftys at around .280 for the last few seasons

How bout this...
Sign kawakami 3 years 21 mil
sign lowe 4 years 56 mil
sign ohman 2 years 7 mil
Sign glavine to an incentive type deal
trade kelly and jojo for dye
lineup
1.Anderson/shafer
2.Yuenl
3.Chip
4.Dye
5.Mac
6.Kotchman
7.French
8.Prado
Rotation
1.Lowe
2.Vazquez
3.JJ
4.Kawakami
5.Glavine
Morton and hanson waiting in the wings
bullpen
Gonzo, soriano, moylan, ohman, Acosta, Boyer, Marek
Thoughts...

baleen,
spread it, urban-dictionary it
furcaled- when a person agrees to a formal stance, then breaks it and goings to a better place with hotter girls.
see reference to: b*tch -slap

drumza i agree with u that kelly is a real talent but u have to give talent to get talent. Imo dye is a huge improvment over swisher. Maybe a kelly jojo and b. jones considering jones will never really have a spot on the braves roster with all the other young guns coming up. If the sox wouldnt do that then ya move on to nady or swisher. I just feel the braves really need a ligetimet clean up hitter and i dont think dye or swisher exactly fit the bill like dye does...

Okay Chipperowns10 if we're looking at building a team here, I vote, trade Kelly and Boyer to the Orioles for Roberts (they can't afford to keep him, we get a lead off hitter, they get a 2B that will be around when they're good, only costs us about 6 to 7Mil actual dollars), Sign Lowe 3yr 42 with easy vesting 1 yr 15 Mil 3 Mil buyout) Sign Kawakami 3 yr 24 mil, trade Infante, Bennett, Reyes to the Yanks for Nady, adding 6M.

Lineup
2B Roberts
SS Escobar
3B Jones
LF Nady
C McCann
RF Francouer
1B Kotchman
CF Andruw/Anderson

Rotation
Lowe
Vasquez
Jurrjens
Kawakami
Campillo/Hanson

that'd be right at an additional 34-35Mil

Hope its true though, so long as they still go after Lowe or Perez.

Also I know the he said that his friend said isn't exactly what anyone wants to hear...lol

All I know is that's what the guy posted on the Braves msg board and maybe that was just some crap that someone added to the wikipedia site, I don't know.

Also to bravo84, I really think Perez is a long shot for the Braves because they don't seem to have much interest in him.

Maybe that changes or maybe it already has changed and they've just kept it quiet I don't know.

Looks like it's been changed back, no longer says he plays for the Atlanta Braves or shows that pic.

If the Brave miss out on Lowe, then next on the list is Perez, so I figure if there not interested now the will be tommorrow, just like with Lowe.

Keith Law's assessment:

Kawakami reminds me too much of Kei Igawa to ignore it, but he's here on the basis of a pretty strong track record of missing bats in Japan. He sits in the upper 80s with a very straight fastball; he's been more homer-prone in Japan than Igawa was, and that pitch's lack of movement is the major reason why.

He throws a potentially above-average cutter and can generate some ground balls with it, but it's not a clear out pitch. None of his offerings (he also throws a slow curve and a forkball with good-not-great diving action) is good enough to project that he'll strike out hitters here as he did in Nippon Professional Baseball. He throws a ton of strikes and was mostly durable through his career in Japan, although he missed some time in September with back trouble. He's a back-end starter for a National League club.

Law forgets his other pitch though the shutto, essentially a 2 seam fastball that is killer on righties. This by other reports ive read is his dominant pitch

I really hope that the Braves sign Kawakami and Lowe. It would turn out to be a pretty nice season where Wren addressed the starting rotation pretty well.

I know that marlinsman1120 but it was also reported in that link that I posted.

I didn't realize that people could edit that site like some on here have said because I never really use that site.

I also said I know that wasn't what anyone wanted to hear but since he said it was reported on the radio and he had that link I thought it was possible.

I usually don't post crap from msg boards but like I said there was atleast a link that was reporting that he had signed with the Braves.

Oh wait thats photoshopped nevermind...

haha bravo,
i hope kenshin dont sign with the braves so i keep saying furcaled

Great signing for the Braves. I've been interested in Kawakami ever since I heard Wren talk about him in Vegas. I admire Wren for how he's handled a tough offseason, one that looks likes it's taking a turn for the better. Smoltz will be missed in ATL. He will always be my favorite pitcher of all time. Wren knew if he were to gamble on a pitcher it would be one he knew would pitch next year and for Smoltz that remains to be seen. I wish Smoltz the best of luck in Boston. I know Braves fans don't like it, but baseball is a business, not a family. I expect the Braves to make their offer to Lowe around the time Kawakami is having his physical. I think Kawakami's finess way of pitching will remind people of the greatest finess pitcher of all time...Maddux. I don't know how the Lowe situation will go because of the 4th year deal. Will the Braves guarantee it? That remains to be seen. I bet the salary will be around 15 mil per season to start out. I've heard the Met's GM pefers Oliver Perez anyway. So, if the Lowe deal goes well then all the Braves have to worry about is LF. I still would perfer Swisher over Nady in a trade, but even though it's just for a year I would love Nady on the team. There has been talks of Dunn and his power would definately help us out. All in all I have to say to Wren that I never doubted him and luv the job he's done thus far.

You think he may end up signing with ATL? That statement makes no sense...I think I may win a million dollars tomorrow

If you were one of 3 or 4 people in the mix to win that million dollars, that would be a very valid statement metzfan22.

Can we all collectively stop ripping Frank Wren? He gave up very little aside from Flowers for Vazquez, who has top-of-the-rotation potential in the NL at a very reasonable price. Aside from that, he's:

- Passed on Peavy, deciding that the future of the organization was more important than an overrated pitcher susceptible to elbow injury

- Been outbid on Burnett, who ended up going to NYY with an awful contract. The Yanks have had a great offseason, grabbing the top pitcher and position player on the market - but Burnett was given too many years and too many dollars. The results have never really matched his stuff over an extended period of time. If he flops in NY, it won't be a big deal, but his type of contract could be crippling to a smaller-budget organization like ATL.

- Let Smoltz walk after another team offered him 5MM guaranteed. This was a nice move for BOS, but promising 5 mil for a player that - let's be honest - may not even pitch in 2009 is a big deal for a team like ATL.

FYI - I am a Mets fan and DESPISE the Braves orginazation (nothing personal). But I'm also a baseball fan and respect the way the team is run.

Oh yeah, definitely, Chris. Couldn't agree more.

You think he may end up signing with ATL? That statement makes no sense...I think I may win a million dollars tomorrow

And choke in 2009 just like Cole Hamels said ur nothin but choke artists

lmao.. i just got furcaled. thats classic

Why is everyone all upset about Hamels' "choke artists" comment? It's pretty accurate, coming from a fan who personally watched the slow demise of the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Be great if DOB is right. If we can get Lowe we won't have an ace, but we will be competitive nightly

1. Lowe
2. Vazquez
3. Jurrjens
4. Campillo/Glavine/Kawakami
5. Kawakami/Glavine/Campillo

Not the Yankees rotation but still solid.

all the six man rotation and kawakami can't provide innings comments, i think you guys misread. He was only a part of a 6 man rotation last year. 3 years ago he threw 212 innings, 2 years ago 167 2/3. while he wont be a workhorse 150-175 innings with good numbers would be a great contribution from your 4th or 5th starter

I wonder why we would take a shot on someone that almost no one knows anything about except statistics instead of signing someone like Randy Wolf?

Jose,

Gotta figure with your lineup Josh Anderson would lead off over Escobar and Kawakami is probably our 4-5 starter. Vasquez is better than everyone thinks and being happier with his manager (Cox) he should play better, plus Jurrjens is really good and should be even better this year. I mean this guy went toe to toe with Cole Hamels and matched him pitch for pitch.

Projected Rotation

1. Derek Lowe
2. Javier Vazquez
3. Jair Jurrjens
4. Kenshin Kawakami
5. Jorge Campillo/Tommy Hanson/Tom Glavine?

Do you have a link to that tsweet9000?

Prospects ranking
1. Hanson/Heyward
2. Hanson/Heyward
3. Schaefer/ Hernandez

I think Gonzo for Ludwick would be stupid, and I think Jurrjens is better than Vasquez, but I think Bobby would rather put a veteran innings eater ahead but they will get the same amount of starts so it probably doesnt matter.

Projected rotation

1. Derek Lowe
2. Jair Jurrjens
3. Javier Vazquez
4. Jorge Campillo/Tom Glavine
5. Kenshin Kawakami

Projected Lineup

1. Josh Anderson
2. Yunel Escobar
3. Chipper Jones
4. Brian McCann
5. Jeff Francoeur/Kelly Johnson
6. Kelly Johnson/Jeff Francoeur
7. Matt Diaz/Gregor Blanco/Omar Infante
8. Casey Kotchman
9. pitcher

Bench
Omar Infante/Gregor Blanco
Dave Ross
Greg Norton

Bravesfan10

Bet they bat Kelly 5th against righties and Jeff 5th against Lefties. agree?

Prospects ranking
1. Hanson/Heyward
2. Hanson/Heyward
3. Schaefer/ Hernandez

Forgot about Gorkys

Bravesfan10
Bet they bat Kelly 5th against righties and Jeff 5th against Lefties. agree?

I do. Because Bobby is gonna shake it up some and don't be surprised if Infante plays for Francoeur against lefties a few games. What is your projected lineups?

Bravesfan10

I think me and you were pretty close.

we had 1-6 in common, I think Kotchman might go 7th because usually people put a little speedier guy at 8 and Diaz is pretty quick and Blanco is realll fast so thats why I think Kotchman might bat 7th.

If injuries strike you could see Hanson soon, but if the rotation is healthy and the starters are all doing really well who are you going to plug him in for? This is assuming Lowe and Kawakami sign. I bet for sure you see Hanson this year if things start going down hill though. Haha Prado great gap hitter, but we already have enough of those. (Kotchman, Kelly, Diaz)

Just thought of this Hanson could pull a Jurrjens. What I mean is last year Jurrjens was supposed to be in AAA and he just smoked everyone else out of S.T. so possibly Hanson does that maybe?

ScottBravesfan19,
The number 8 batter doesn't have to be real fast, but he should have good OPS so they can get on and get the pitcher outta the way so the leadoff man is first in the next inning. So yea Diaz would be good for that or Blanco because of how much he walks...

Yeah I gotcha I think what I was meaning was if you have a choice you would rather have a Gregor Blanco type guy at 8, remember Scott Thorman in the 8 hole? LOL
You can put anyone in the 8 hole, but a speedy guy is probably best utilized so he can be bunted over easier and score if the lead off guy gets a hit. Thats why I like speed in the 8 hole.

Rotation :
Lowe
Vasquez
Jurjains
Glavine/Campillo/Hanson
Kawakami
Lineup:
Anderson
Escoar
Jones
Dunn
McCan
Johnson
Kotchman
Francouer
Pitcher

NO TRADE HANSON, he scare the living sh*t out of me, trade him to the west coast!

hahaha