Jays Sign Tomo Ohka
Tuesday, January 23 2007 @ 02:06 PM EST
Contributed by: Pistol
According to Ken Rosenthal the Blue Jays have signed Tomo Ohka to a 1 year contract. Jeff Blair writes that the deal is for $1.5 million with incentives that could push the deal to $3.0 million.
ESPN.com reports that the deal is pending a physical set to take place later this week. Ohka is currently in Japan.
Thanks to Bauxite Jevant for pointing out the link.
Ohka was injured for part of 2006, making only 18 starts and had his worst season of his career. However, prior to last year Ohka was at least an average pitcher when he took the mound and was pretty good from 02-04.
| Year |
G |
GS |
IP |
SO |
BB |
HR |
ERA |
ERA+ |
WHIP |
| 2002 |
32 |
31 |
192.7 |
118 |
45 |
19 |
3.18 |
131 |
1.24 |
| 2003 |
34 |
34 |
199.0 |
118 |
45 |
24 |
4.16 |
119 |
1.40 |
| 2004 |
15 |
15 |
84.7 |
38 |
20 |
11 |
3.40 |
122 |
1.39 |
| 2005 |
32 |
29 |
180.3 |
98 |
55 |
22 |
4.04 |
103 |
1.35 |
| 2006 |
18 |
18 |
97.0 |
50 |
35 |
12 |
4.82 |
93 |
1.37 |
Obviously, Ohka will now be pitching in the AL which makes things more difficult for his ERA. In a chat last week Nate Silver said that the average pitcher should expect a 0.25 rise in his ERA moving from the NL to AL, excluding the DH. This article has the DH adjustment at a half run a game.
If you think Ohka's 2006 performance is indicative of what he will do going forward then the move doesn't help the Jays out too much. However, if you think he's better than he was last year it's a solid move, given the remaining options.
Last year the Jays lost Halladay, Burnett, and Chacin for various stretches of time. Thomson and Ohka at this point will likely round out the rotation and both also have injury histories. So the Jays are going to need plenty of starters this year, just like they did last year. At some point there's going to be plenty of oppurtunities for Towers, Marcum, McGowan, Janssen, etc. to make their mark on the team. If they end up being the best options starting they'll find their way into the rotation.
So to sum up, I think the Jays are better today with Ohka than without him, and the commitment is only for one year. Can't go wrong there.
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