More On John Smoltz
January 8, 2009 by Mike
From Buster Olney:
Boston is guaranteeing him $5.5 million, with another $5 million in incentive clauses, and according to David O’Brien, the Braves all along have been reluctant to give Smoltz more than $3 million. Smoltz, after all, is in the fifth decade of his life; he’s bearing 21 seasons and about 3,600 innings of wear and tear; and he’s recovering from major surgery, after making just six starts in 2008. The Braves, who have access to his medical reports, seem to have made a calculated assessment that Smoltz is not going to bounce back.
We’ll see. But Smoltz should not be confused for a typical 41-year-old. He is an unusually gifted athlete — Woods says Smoltz is the best golfer he knows who is not a professional — and the man is going to be driven by the doubts from the Atlanta front office. Reportedly, Smoltz has looked great in his throwing sessions, and the Red Sox went to see him and made what is a fairly significant commitment — $5.5 million is a pretty good chunk of cash. They wanted to see him throw, to see him move, to see his range of motion.
If those elements of Smoltz are OK — and the Red Sox have apparently decided that they are — keep in mind that right up to the time he was shut down in 2008, he had pitched very well. In 2007, he mustered a 3.11 ERA in 205 2/3 innings, striking out 197 and walking just 47, and then in six games for the Braves last year, he struck out 36 and walked eight in 28 innings, with a 2.57 ERA.
And there won’t be any question about whether Smoltz — who legendarily faced Jack Morris and the Twins in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series, one of the greatest games of all time and one of the first of Smoltz’s 40 postseason appearances — will be able to make a transition from Atlanta to Boston. And there will be no pressure on him to be ready at the outset of the 2009 season. He can go through his rehab with a measured approach, and pitch in the majors when his shoulder is ready for him to pitch in the majors.
The signing of Smoltz gives the Red Sox more flexibility, as they consider how to upgrade at catcher and perhaps at shortstop. They have six veteran starters lined up now, with Smoltz soon to join Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, Jon Lester and Brad Penny; this frees up the Red Sox to more seriously consider dealing Clay Buchholz.
The Rays’ greatest advantage in 2009 will be their defense, and the Yankees probably have the greatest collection of star players in the division, with CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira joining the others. If Boston is going to win the American League East, it will be on the strength of its rotation, and Smoltz is capable of being a big part of that — and you can bet that he will want to show the Braves’ management, every time out, how wrong it was about him.
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