http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3262747

The Boston Red Sox have reached preliminary agreement on a minor league contract with right-hander Bartolo Colon, a source told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.

Bartolo Colon

Colon

If he makes the Opening Day roster, Colon would provide rotation insurance for Boston, which will be without Curt Schilling, who is working his way back from a shoulder injury.

The White Sox, Cardinals and Astros had also been rumored as possible suitors for Colon this offseason.

Colon suffered through an injury-marred 2007 for the Los Angeles Angels, posting a 6-8 record and a 6.34 ERA -- the worst of his career.

In his 11-year career, Colon is 146-95 with a 4.10 ERA. He is a two-time 20-game winner and he won the Cy Young Award in 2005 with the Angels.

What, Rich Garces was unavailable?

blah.
worth the gamble I guess.
but he's always won by throwing the ball by people.
if the reports are true that he's now 88/89, I can't see him doing much.

Its a minor league deal. What's not to like?

This is a great gamble, if he comes back as any kinda form of his former self...its a steal, if not, he's out the first week of June.

Plus you can never have enough fat starters

This is particularly a good deal if he doesn't have an opt out if he doesn't start the season on the 25 man roster. Ideally he starts in extended ST or AAA for a while see if he can stay healthy and regain a little velocity before bringing him in the MLB rotation.

He hasn't been healthy since 2005, so I wouldn't hold my breath on him being effective, but if he is healthy enough to pitch he is a guy you can call up and use the the 5th spot and if he can't pitch you can cut him without worrying too much.

Hell of a gamble. Three years removed from a Cy Young Award. Given he's not that calibur anymore, obviously. But hey, it's merely a minor league deal. What's not to like about this signing?

Just as ugly, and almost as fat.

I heard they only signed him because they wanted somebody to represent the team in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.

Man. I hope this works out well...but if it does, I'll have to go back on 4 years of ragging on the guy mercilessly. It's gonna be weird.

I'm surprised and excited to see this. I know he hasn't looked good in workouts, but if he can even act as a decent fifth starter for a couple of months that would allow Buchholz to keep his innings down in Pawtucket, then he's doing a good service for this team. Given that he's only a couple years removed from a Cy, this move can't hurt at all and could pay tremendous dividends.

It's going to cost this team, what, a couple hundred thousands dollars at most? What's not to like? This move can't hurt the Red Sox in any sort of way, unless he gets hungry and eats Dustin Pedroia. Best case scenario, he allows the Red Sox to hide Bucholz down in Pawtucket to start the season and save his arm so he can be a factor later in the season and then when Bucholz comes up, they can shop him for some two star prospect or a 26th man on the roster type player. Worst case scenario, he throws like crap and we send him back to the Waffle House buffet line with a little more money to blow.

Its a good signing, but people are overrating the upside. There is no chance whatsoever of Colon returning to Cy Young form. Zero. He is NOT healthy. The first photo/video you see of him will shock you b/c of how out of shape he is.

There IS a decent chance he is a productive pitcher for a stretch for the 08 Red Sox. Think a crappier version of what you expected from Curt Schilling this year.

The exciting thing, and its purely speculation on my part, is that he likely signed here b/c of our winning ways, our astute management, and our top notch, cutting edge medical/training staff. It only makes sense as he would have had a much higher chance of jumping right into a number of rotations apparently. Another benefit of doing things the right way as an organization.

Don't forget Papi's mango salsa.

Like some others said...what is not to like about this deal? The front office for the last few years has shown they know what they are doing and I think this is just another example of how good John Henry and Theo are at what they do. They really don't have much to lose if Colon does not work out, but much to gain if he returns to even at least 75% of his old form.

Who said anything like that. No one expects him to be anything more than a fifth starter -- no one said anything about him returning to Cy Young form.

The bottom line is, is he healthy?

He won the Cy in 05 racking up a ton of innings (222), missed most of 06 with injuries (April-June with an inflamed shoulder and August-September with a torn rotator cuff) but came back strong in 07 with 6 good starts at the beginning of the season before proceeding to suck for the next 2 months, after which he was then shut down for 2 months with a sore elbow.

IMO if he is healthy, this will be a great signing for the Sox and if not, they are out very little money. We could be very well underestimating his upside.

I just like that he looks like he could be Manny's grandmother.

And I like this picture, too.



Fat's just not something you can learn. You're born with it, baby.

I agree that we are losing nothing with this signing but good grief, did you see the latest picture of this dude? If he were to step on a scale, it would say: "TO BE CONTINUED."

That just means he has more butt to put behind his fast ball.

Seriously, as with other posters, what is the downside to this deal?

--J.D.

I worry about these kinds of signings because even though the Sox are stacked, making the playoffs in the AL will be far from a cakewalk. If Colon gets 15-20 starts while putting up a 6.00 ERA because he is famous and stole Santana's Cy a few years ago, I'll be pissed. I'm only happy with the signing if the Sox are willing to cut him loose if he sucks, and he probably will. Even when he was throwing gas, his fastball was straight as an arrow, and I never thought that much of his secondary stuff.

Minor. League. Deal.

Seriously, though, there is zero chance the Sox would ever let that happen. Colon would never make 15+ starts for us and they wouldnt let him make 5 starts if he sucks that bad.

Hell, Im not convinced Colon is even 6th on the SP depth chart right now.

My favorite snippet from the news of this deal...


When Manny Ramirez was asked about the addition of Colon to the team, he didn't have much to offer: "I don't know," he said. "I'm not a pitching coach."

God bless him.

And now some fat jokes, courtesy of Rodney Dangerfield:

I'm not gonna say that Colon is fat, but he's so fat that when he wears spikes he strikes oil. He's so fat he gets on the scale and it says "One at a time." He's so fat the last time I saw something that big it was grazing. He's so fat his bath tub has stretch marks. He's so fat two women could have sex with him at the same time and never meet. He's so fat he belly button has an echo.

I just hope the maintenance crew at Fenway is ready, because from the looks of recent pictures, rather than use the locker room doors, he will break through the brick wall yelling "OH YEAH!"

[quote name='The Love Below' date='Feb 25 2008, 12:57 PM' post='761757']
My favorite snippet from the news of this deal...


When Manny Ramirez was asked about the addition of Colon to the team, he didn't have much to offer: "I don't know," he said. "I'm not a pitching coach."

God bless him.


I don't know if I'm more surprised that the Sox are interested in Colon or that Manny is actually talking to the media.

But I'd be willing to bet that Julian Taravez....heck maybe even Karl Synder has more starts this year for the Sox then Colon does.

And El Tiante's cigars!

I was thinking they'd just be on hand to open the truck doors in center field for Colon to get to the clubhouse.

-----------

Like alskor said, Colon would probably be happy to get on the 25 man roster, just to be under the organizational umbrella for medical care, use of the Jacuzzi, and free back rubs. And use of the weight room, if anyone could convince him it was in his best interest to pick up something heavier than a fork.

Maybe, to qualify for that place on the 25 man roster, he'd have to agree to a weight training program AND actually show up and do the work. I wonder if that'd be "legal" in a MLBPA approved sense....?

How did I miss that gem? ...!

No wide-angle lens?

Don't worry. If he takes the mound for the Sox with an 88 mph fastball, you'll be ragging on him like never before.

Rotoworld.

Interesting contract structure. I wonder if there are any clauses in case they just leave him in the minors all year. How does he have a base salary if its a MLC though? Is it a clause if he makes the majors at all?

Well, per Theo, Colon can opt out by a certain date if he hasnt been added to the MLB roster. Theo wouldnt say what date that was, but Im sure it will be leaked at some point.

That's from Peter Gammons... I wonder what Reinhold thoughts are about getting Colon a bro to support those DD's

Meh, I don't think he looks all that bad as far as his conditioning goes.

I was thinking the same thing TLB, as silly as it may sound, if you look at his forearm and his bicep, also, his belly isn't actually sticking out that much. If he's got his fastball back over 90, this could work out fine.

Stripes are slimming.

--J.D.

fixed

I know.

--J.D.

So, you're a Yankee fan?

When served with a marvelous chianti. . . .

--J.D.

You like the Yankees with a marvelous Chianti?

Provided they are served rare to medium rare.

--J.D.

I bleed Red Sox red, too.

I will support bleeding Yankees fans, yes. . . .

--J.D.

Colon threw 42 pitches in his first bullpen session with the Sox-- mostly fastballs with a changeup or two mixed in. Apparently came close to hitting 90, which impressed Farrell.

Another side session Wednesday.

Edes

I am starting to get pretty excited by all the positive reports we have seen regarding Bartolo.





http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3278726

If Colon is actually healthy for the first time in two years, he could be a huge addition to the rotation. A guy capable of winning 15 games out of the 5 spot in the rotation.

I cant wait till we see him in some game action.

A healthy Colon at minimum can share innings with Buchholz and Lester to keep their innings down, kind of a 4-5-6 triumvirate, and is a good insurance policy for Wakefield's annual shoulder issues.

I was skeptical, but maybe we can actually get 80-90 or so league average innings out of him. If so, Theo scored a huge win on a minor league deal.
Also very excited to see him pitch.

As long as he can pitch at a league average rate for the first couple months of the season, I would say that is fair value. Anything else on top of that is gravy. I'm at least hopeful that he can buy some time through May if the reports we're hearing are true.

I wouldn't get too excited, it's ST. What else are people going to say?

It seems like every year there's a retread or something that everyone gets real excited about - they rarely pan out.

Remember the Matt Mantei experiment? "The ball looks like it's coming out of a bazooka when he releases it." Then when they put a gun on him he was 89 - 91 on his fastball.