Sox sign Wacha

curly2

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He hasn't been good since an abbreviated season in 2018. ERA+ the last three years: 88, 65, 78.

This is just puzzling.
 

OurF'ingCity

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"Solid"? He had a 5.05 ERA. This is just another Perez/Richards type of signing. Wacha had a worse ERA but better FIP than either of those guys last year so I think that level of performance is about what we can expect.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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On the surface, seems like a reasonable depth pick-up where he could play a role similar to early season Whitlock (low leverage long relief), only with the ability to jump into the rotation if needed. I have to think he's not getting much more than he did from the Rays last year ($3M).
 

moondog80

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Maybe they see something? K/BB has been very good past couple of years (9.0/2.2) but HR rate through the roof (1.8).
 

chawson

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Wacha finished strong. Here’s a write up on him from a larger piece by Aaron Gleeman of the Athletic:

Tampa Bay didn’t really fix Wacha, who has a 5.11 ERA since 2019 and a 4.62 ERA since 2016, but the Rays may have unlocked some upside late in the year when they convinced him to ditch a high-usage cutter that had been clobbered all season. Wacha shelved it in mid-August and then finished with a 3.20 ERA and 45-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his final 39 innings.
 

curly2

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The strong finish doesn't include the bruising the Sox inflicted on him in Game 2 of the ALDS. That was a scary, 8-6 Sox lead when Wacha came in and 14-6 when he left.
 

Diamond Don Aase

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"Solid"? He had a 5.05 ERA. This is just another Perez/Richards type of signing. Wacha had a worse ERA but better FIP than either of those guys last year so I think that level of performance is about what we can expect.
This signing seems more Andriesean than Richardsesque. Wacha has pitched to an xERA of 5.09 or worse in three of the past four seasons, with the truncated COVID season of 2020 being the only exception. Pitching his home games in the cavernous confines of Tropicana Field last season did little to curb Wacha’s horrific home run tendencies and his fastball velocity remained down a mile-and-a-half per hour from its peak in 2017, Wacha’s lone three-win season in a nine-year major league career. I strongly suspect that there will be better pitchers non-tendered.
 

RG33

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It was almost inevitable. Hopefully the last 40 innings of the season were indicative of his upside for 2022. This is going to be the kind of SP/RP signing that Chaim makes I think going forward. Some will hit, some will not. I just don’t see them spending long-term monies on the Steve Matz’s of the world.
 

BigSoxFan

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He’s going to be bad and we won’t get to face him. Double whammy. Don’t like this move, especially if incentives get it closer to $5M.
 

jmanny24

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If he hits the incentives he's probably been good and worth the $5m, if not this is Andriese, Richards, Perez. Same dart, different name that is all.
 

Petagine in a Bottle

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When you only want to sign guys for short term deals, you are choosing from a pool of players that includes guys like Wacha, Perez, and Richards. Maybe it works out- and then you have to resign the guy or find someone else like him- but, the upside is you aren’t locked into a bad deal, I guess. This seems to be how Bloom approaches free agency.
 

chawson

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Wacha is a Jonny Gomes kind of signing. Overpay by a couple mil early in the offseason for a league-average/role-playing contributor as insurance against not signing anyone. Then later you can go hunting for bigger fish with less of a glaring hole and less desperation, or trade from more of a surplus.
 

RorschachsMask

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Can you believe it?

Seriously though, hoping he figured something out down the stretch. Not overtly optimistic, but I’m wrong constantly.
 

Yo La Tengo

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Anyone have easy access to his fastball velocity at the end of the season?

I’m hoping he’s a spot starter and multi inning guy.
 

chawson

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Anyone have easy access to his fastball velocity at the end of the season?

I’m hoping he’s a spot starter and multi inning guy.
From 8/20 on his 4-seamer averaged 94.4. From 4/1 til that time it averaged 93.4.
 

Petagine in a Bottle

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1040 ops against as a reliever last year. Righties hit him hard (826 ops). Was good in 2018, though, and is willing to sign a 1-year deal. I know there’s no such thing as a bad one year deal but when you add them all up, it seems to usually be a pretty big waste of money. But…they need someone to eat innings and he is still only 30, somehow. Hard to feel excited or angry about this one, it’s….something!
 

PrometheusWakefield

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Thanks! I think that velocity could bump up slightly as a reliever. I wish this was Collin McHugh, but in Chaim we trust.
Maybe it's Collin McHugh before he reinvented himself, which is what you really want.

3.91 xFIP last year. In fact his FIP has actually been pretty solid throughout his career outside of 2019. His 69% strand rate is clearly bad luck, what's less clear is whether his 17.7% HR/FB was luck or a sign of getting hit hard.

Plenty of underlying talent and potential, especially if we are looking at him as mostly working out of the bullpen.
 
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RedOctober3829

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This would be a little cherrypicked if it weren’t for Wacha ditching his cutter on 8/20, but his xFIP from that point on with his new repertoire was 3.02 in 39.1 innings. That ranked 19th in MLB in that span, just behind Gausman at 3.01 and Scherzer at 3.00.
That’s where I think this signing came from. He had pretty good success after ditching that cutter. We’ll see if that is sustainable long term.
 

Petagine in a Bottle

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So he was good in 30 innings in august but only if you don’t include the playoffs, and that’s why the Sox signed him? I mean, maybe, but it also seems possible that he was the first guy willing to sign a one year deal (after they were rejected by E-Rod, Heaney, and Matz).
 

jeff_moffett

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I’m with the majority here. Scrap heap guy. If it’s $3m, I get it. If it’s $5m, I hate it. Starting pitching depth is important but he’s not even a #5.
 

mauf

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This would be a little cherrypicked if it weren’t for Wacha ditching his cutter on 8/20, but his xFIP from that point on with his new repertoire was 3.02 in 39.1 innings. That ranked 19th in MLB in that span, just behind Gausman at 3.01 and Scherzer at 3.00.
This signing feels a bit like last year’s bet on Franchy Cordero, who appeared to have figured something out in limited action during the abbreviated 2020 season. It didn’t hurt much when Franchy didn’t work out, and it won’t hurt much if Wacha busts too.
 

RedOctober3829

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So he was good in 30 innings in august but only if you don’t include the playoffs, and that’s why the Sox signed him? I mean, maybe, but it also seems possible that he was the first guy willing to sign a one year deal (after they were rejected by E-Rod, Heaney, and Matz).
Or they liked what they saw in those 30 innings and with a full offseason to implement those changes full time that he could be better. Not saying this is an ace, but he can be better than a 5 ERA guy.
 

Petagine in a Bottle

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Hopefully, there’s some strategic reason they targeted this guy and it’s not just the first guy willing to sign a one-year deal. It’s hard to figure out what they are doing this off-season….is it another year of dumpster diving and looking for deals or are they actually going to loosen the purse strings a bit?
 

moondog80

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Hopefully, there’s some strategic reason they targeted this guy and it’s not just the first guy willing to sign a one-year deal. It’s hard to figure out what they are doing this off-season….is it another year of dumpster diving and looking for deals or are they actually going to loosen the purse strings a bit?
They are not mutually exclusive. They'll always pursue deals like this no matter who else they pursue. The order in which you sign guys doesn't matter -- I'd guess they saw something in Wacha that makes then think he's a particularly good bet amongst FA pitchers?
 

Cellar-Door

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I really don't get the people who care if it's $5M vs. $3M, there isn't a salary cap, the owners have tons of money and $2M over 1 year isn't going to have any effect on other signings. If he's the $3-5M 1 year take a shot guy they like best, get him. Baseball more than any other sport it's silly to worry about whether a 1 year deal is a good value or not, it has no real impact on the rest of the roster construction, and you don't get anything for having the most efficient payroll.
 

Average Reds

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I really don't get the people who care if it's $5M vs. $3M, there isn't a salary cap, the owners have tons of money and $2M over 1 year isn't going to have any effect on other signings. If he's the $3-5M 1 year take a shot guy they like best, get him. Baseball more than any other sport it's silly to worry about whether a 1 year deal is a good value or not, it has no real impact on the rest of the roster construction, and you don't get anything for having the most efficient payroll.
This is precisely right. $2 million is a rounding error and people are acting like it’s a make-or-break salary difference.

$5 million for Wacha (if we assume that’s the number) is a low-risk, high-upside signing that will provide depth for the rotation. No idea why people are grumpy about this.
 

E5 Yaz

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$5 million for Wacha (if we assume that’s the number) is a low-risk, high-upside signing that will provide depth for the rotation. No idea why people are as grumpy as I’m seeing here.
This is the new SoSH ... team makes move, posters hate ... team has rookie QB playing well and helping them win, posters say he's not doing much.

It's basically the whiner line without having to listen to the accents
 

TapeAndPosts

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My first reaction is an enjoyable curiosity to puzzle out what Bloom and Co see in him, and see whether it comes to fruition. Credit to them that's the space my head goes to.
 

chawson

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I really don't get the people who care if it's $5M vs. $3M, there isn't a salary cap, the owners have tons of money and $2M over 1 year isn't going to have any effect on other signings. If he's the $3-5M 1 year take a shot guy they like best, get him. Baseball more than any other sport it's silly to worry about whether a 1 year deal is a good value or not, it has no real impact on the rest of the roster construction, and you don't get anything for having the most efficient payroll.
Yes, exactly. And the extra $2 million or whatever is probably worth it as leverage in talks for other acquisitions.

Hopefully, there’s some strategic reason they targeted this guy and it’s not just the first guy willing to sign a one-year deal. It’s hard to figure out what they are doing this off-season….is it another year of dumpster diving and looking for deals or are they actually going to loosen the purse strings a bit?
I haven’t seen anyone besides you offering the theory that they’re uniformly offering 1-2 year deals, but yes I also hope we are disabused of it soon.

As for figuring out what they’re doing, it’s early. With Canha to the Mets, that’s 18 of 261 free agents off the board.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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I really liked him back in game 6 of the 2013 World Series, but this seems to me to be a “throw it against the wall and see if the late season success sticks“ kind of signing that worked out for the Sox in, oh, 2013.
 

BaseballJones

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This is precisely right. $2 million is a rounding error and people are acting like it’s a make-or-break salary difference.

$5 million for Wacha (if we assume that’s the number) is a low-risk, high-upside signing that will provide depth for the rotation. No idea why people are grumpy about this.
I think people are grumpy because Wacha isn’t very good. Regardless of the money.