AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 13
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Whither Smoltz? Who is Kawakami?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re back from Sin City, and fairly certain that soon I’m going to have an entire day off. No, seriously. It’ll happen. Christmas is right around the corner.
But we know that exasperated, frustrated Braves fans are in no mood to hear complaints. Not when the fate of the franchise, or at least the 2009 season, could rest on whether or not Frank Wren and his men (good name for a rock band, by the way) are able to lock down an ace and a run-producing outfielder between now and opening day, and preferably yesterday.
Got some news for you on the pitching front, a day after the Braves lost potential No. 1 starter A.J. Burnett to the Yankees, where he can operate in the shadow (literally and figuratively) of CC Sabathia, whose $161 mill contract for seven years was about double the $82.5 mill the Yankees will shell out to A.J. over five years.
Think about it: $243.5 mill for two pitchers whose 214-149 combined won-loss record is about the same as John Smoltz’s 210-147 record — minus Smoltz’s 154 saves, of course. And 15 wins and 194 strikeouts in the postseason. (Sabathia has two postseason wins and 15 strikeouts; Burnett has no postseason experience.)
Anyway, where were we? Oh, yes. Pitching news. And no, it’s not about Smoltz, because I don’t have an update on the Bearded Braves Icon. Well, other than to say I’ve gone from 99-percent certain he’ll be back with the Braves to about 80-percent certain, given what his agent said at the Winter Meetings about him having options, and given the interest level that teams including the Red Sox have indicated they have, along with the wait-and-see approach the Braves are taking, not willing to commit a roster spot or guaranteed contract to Smoltz until they’re reasonably certain he can pitch at a major league level in 2009.
Folks, I’m not saying this is going to get ugly in Braves Nation, but there’s at least the potential of that, if another team offers Smoltz a major league contract and the Braves do not, or another team offers him what he might consider to be a fair salary and the Braves do not (whatever the Braves offer, it’s probably going to be a relatively low salary with incentives).
But that’ll all be resolved, one way or another, a little later this winter. Smoltz threw off the mound for the first time just over a week ago, so it’s still too early for the Braves to feel comfortable enough to offer him a contract.
Which brings us back to the original point of today’s post, the news I wanted to bring you: The Braves are interested in another Japanese pitcher, and this one isn’t a prospect who’d take a year or two to reach the majors like Junichi Tazawa, the 22-year-old the Braves bid for recently but lost to the Red Sox.
This time it’s 33-year-old Kenshin Kawakami, a right-hander who in 2004 won both the Central League MVP award and the Sawamura Award, the Japanese equivelent of the Cy Young Award.
A former Japanese Central League rookie of the year and a three-time Gold Glove winner, Kawakami has pitched 11 seasons or the Chunichi Dragons and is a free agent who won’t require any compensation or posting fee from whichever major league team signs him.
He has a 112-72 career record and 3.22 ERA, led his league in strikeouts in 2006, and had a career-best strikeout rate in 2008, when he totaled 113 strikeouts with 30 walks in 117-1/3 innings during the regular season.
The Braves are competing for his services along with some of the usual suspects including the Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers and Orioles. But before you see Boston mentioned and assume he’ll follow Tazawa and join Dice-K in Beantown, it’s worth noting that the Braves are particularly motivated to improve their rotation.
I’m told that if there’s a favorite to land his services, it might be Baltimore.
“We had a very productive conversation with the Braves during the Winter Meetings,” said Kawakami’s agent Dan Evans, a former major league GM. “They made a very solid presentation and Frank Wren demonstrated a very good feel for Japanese baseball. That won some points [with Kawakami].”
We should be clear up front: Kawakami is not projected to be a No. 1 starter, but scouts say he could fill a No. 2 or No. 3 role for many major league rotations, or a No. 4 spot for a loaded rotation.
In other words, he might be better than Javier Vazquez.
For some context, consider that Kawakami is six months younger than Hiroki Kuroda, who came from Japan a year ago and went 9-10 with a 3.73 ERA for the Dodgers in 2008 in 31 starts and 183-1/3 innings.
Kawakami and Kuroda both pitched in Japan’s Central League. In their last three years before free agency, Kuroda went 40-26 with a 2.86 ERA and Kawakami was 38-20 with a 2.81 ERA. Kuroda had a 103-89 career record and 3.69 ERA in Japan.
Kawakami was the highest paid starter for the traditionally strong Chunichi Dragons, and the team’s Game 1 starter in the past five consecutive postseasons.
He’s regarded as a wily, crafty veteran whose fastball tops out at about 90 mph (if you believe one scouting report I saw), or 93 mph (if you believe his agent). He throws a slow curveball and a very good cutter, scouting reports say. Kawakami has a reputation as a big-game pitcher who challenges hitters.
So there you have it. It’s probably best not to get your hopes up too high in this season of being left at the altar. But at least it appears the Braves are turning over every rock trying to strengthen a rotation. They had better continue to do so.
Atlanta starters ranked 11th in the NL with a 4.60 ERA in 2008, and remarkably had only one pitcher work as many as 145 innings in a starting role (Jair Jurrjens) and none work 200 innings.
Still haven’t heard if the Braves might try to revive the Jake Peavy negotiations, but to get any semblance of a true No. 1 starter it’s either Peavy, roll the dice on Ben Sheets, overpay for Scott Boras client Derek Lowe, or somehow work a trade for an ace we don’t currently know to be available.
Diversions: Bunch of good movies coming out, and I can’t wait to see two that are getting a ton of Oscar buzz— The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke and Gran Torino starring and directed by Clint Eastwood. Those two haven’t opened in Atlanta yet, but two others I want to see, Frost/Nixon and Slumdog Millionaire have, and I’m gonna hopefully see both this week. Anybody got a review of any of those yet?… Oh, and did you see the new TNT show Leverage with Timothy Hutton? I watched the first episode last night and was pleasantly surprised. Very entertaining. I’ve got the second episode on DVR, haven’t watched yet. Hopefully it’s as good as the opener.
Christmas music, if we must: Don’t know how you all feel, but I have an approximate 24-hour window during which I might actually enjoy Christmas tunes, and that’s from noon Christmas Eve to noon Christmas Day.
During that time, and scattered other moments in December, give me Christmas tunes by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, James Brown, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and the absolute best, most rockingest two Christmas albums ever recorded, Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift For You with his trademark wall-of-sound production and soulful singing by the Ronettes, the Crystals, Darlene Love and other sensational girl groups, and Christmas A Go-Go with Keith Richards doing “Run Rudolph Run,” the Ramones’ “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)” and Soupy Sales (yes, Soupy Sales) doing “Santa Claus is Surfin’ To Town.” Ah, tradition.
Folks, if you’ve never heard that Spector Christmas creation, you’ve never heard cool Christmas songs. The man was a genius before he lost his mind. That album is terrific. Yes, a terrific Christmas album. You can order it on Amazon.com. You won’t regret it.
The following is not a Christmas song, just a great song:
”CALEB MEYER” by Gillian Welch
Caleb Meyer, he lived alone
In them hollarin’ pines
Then he made a little whiskey for himself
Said it helped pass the time
Long one evening in back of my house,
Caleb come around
And he called my name ‘til I went out
with no one else around
Caleb Meyer, your ghost is gonna
wear them rattlin’ chains.
but when I go to sleep at night,
Don’t you call my name
Where’s your husband, Nellie Kane
Where’s your darlin gone?
Did he go down off the mountain side
and leave you all alone?
Yes, my husband’s gone to Bowlin’ Green
to do some business there.
Then Caleb threw that bottle down
and grabbed me by my hair.
Caleb Meyer, your ghost is gonna
wear them rattlin’ chains.
but when I go to sleep at night,
Don’t you call my name.
He threw me in the needle bed,
across my dress he lay
then he pinned my hands above my head
and I commenced to pray.
I cried My God, I am your child
send your angels down
Then feelin’ with my fingertips,
the bottle neck I found
I drew that glass across his neck
as fine as any blade,
and I felt his blood pour fast and hot
around me where I laid.
Caleb Meyer, your ghost is gonna
wear them rattlin’ chains.
But when I go to sleep at night,
Don’t you call my name
Caleb Meyer, your ghost is gonna
wear them rattlin’ chains.
But when I go to sleep at night,
Don’t you call my name.
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