Koji & Tazawa leaving Sox

Koji, as much as I love him, is a zillion years old and has dealt with injury the past two years. Maybe you miss out on one last good season by letting him walk but I think it's as good a time as any to part ways.

Tazawa is a guy who's been great in flashes but pretty average overall. I know people think he's been overworked, while I've argued that his usage really isn't that out of line with your standard 7th-8th inning guy. It does seem like he's a guy who could benefit from a little more creativity in usage (longer outings, fewer games?), but MLB managers in general and John Farrell in particular don't do creativity in reliever usage, so he's probably not a great fit here.

Honestly, it would be kind of interesting if some rebuilding team tried Tazawa as a starter again. He's shown good command and he doesn't suffer from platoon issues, which are things you want in a starter. It's pretty questionable if he could handle the workload, but he also can't really handle the workload of a reliever, so why not give it a try?

I will miss them both. As fenwaythehardway said, Koji's age made his situation a little more fluid. Poor Tazawa, Farrell absolutely abused him the last two years in particular. It was textbook treatment straight from the Joe Torre School of Reliever Destruction. I hope he is able to rebound (preferably with anyone outside the AL East).

And Tazawa himself has expressed a preference for starting. As does, I assume, every pitcher who saw what Ian Kennedy got paid last year.

I disagree with you about the overworked bit, though. While his overall innings totals haven't been high, for four straight seasons he was pushed hard in the first half, followed a period of ineffectiveness, followed hence by comments from Farrell himself saying that Tazawa was a bit gassed and that he needed to lean on him less. I'm not sure why you'd measure whether he's overworked relative to the league - a pitcher being pushed beyond his durability as an individual means he's being overworked. Every pitcher is different and it's the manager's job to identify that accordingly. Not everyone is Jesse Orosco or Eddie Guardado.

Koji's 2013 was such a wonderful burst of energy and excitement. I remember thinking at the time it was a sensible bullpen depth signing, but I had no idea he would dominate like that.

I think you are missing the point on how Tazawa wore down. He was not worn down by being used over the course of a season. He was worn down by being used extremely heavily for stretches without being given the opportunity to recover. Most/all relievers need time to recover. I'm not sure than you can say that the "average" reliever would not have worn down given the abuse inflicted upon him for long stretches. If there is an analysis of reliever recovery time, is live to read it. May be it would show Tazawa needed more time than most.

My understanding is they made an offer to Koji but it was mostly a gesture.

These guys have been good, Koji great, and the Sox and they benefited mutually. This was a good time to part for all involved.

I think the remarks being published today from Chapman on his usage could be echoed by Tazawa.

www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18292641/new-york-yankees-closer-aroldis-chapman-says-chicago-cubs-manager-joe-maddon-misused-playoffs

Note that Chapman threw only 58 innings in the regular season, But he believes the way he was used in the playoffs resulted in his losing effectiveness.

I believe much of Taz's issues came from being warmed up to frequently.

I don't think Chapman gets it. In the playoffs, particularly the WS you have to expect the manager goes with his best. The big Unit closed out game #7 (getting 4 outs) after throwing 104 pitches the previous day.

Note: Chapman managed 58 innings despite being suspended for 30 days at the start of the 2016 season. Tazawa pitched a total of 49 innings in 2016. Tazawa simply cannot answer the bell in a manner to benefit a team over the course of an entire season, unless said team has a rotation full of starters that go 6+ innings each time out.

One of the reporters said they had an offer on the table for Koji before the Thornburg trade. Supposedly Koji at the time wasn't sure what he wanted to do and told the Sox he would think about it but that if they found a different avenue they should pursue it. After the trade, the offer was withdrawn.

It was the World Series. Chapman has been groomed as a one inning specialist over his entire career (none of it in the post season). He was outside his comfort zone. Will be interesting to see Chapman's reaction, the first time Girardi sends him out for a second inning.

Pitchers question managers decision making all the time. It usually gets resolved face to face in the managers office. Going public with his disagreement or displeasure, following a world series championship is bad form, IMO.

Yeah, it's obviously a dumb comment. It just seems pretty benign when coming from someone who called domestic assault a learning experience.

At 2/$12M, at least two teams had to be bidding on him as a possible starter. He's a steal in that role at that price. If there's an X% chance (30%?) he's more valuable as a starter than as a reliever, his value is (100-x) * value as a reliever + (x) * value as a starter, and the deal makes sense.