ESPN.com: Koji Uehara rejects trade to Toronto

[polo007]

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/texas-ra ... to-toronto

Rangers reliever Koji Uehara refused a trade to the Toronto Blue Jays, according to a source. Uehara has a limited no-trade clause that includes six teams and Toronto is one of those.

Reports in Japan earlier Tuesday first noted Uehara had refused a trade to the Blue Jays. The Rangers continue to talk to other teams about Uehara, who is slated to make $4 million this season.

Uehara struggled with the Rangers after the club obtained him at the trade deadline last year. He was 1-2 with a 4.00 ERA in 18 innings (22 games) and then wasn’t able to get it done in the playoffs. After allowing five earned runs in 1 1/3 postseason innings in the ALDS and ALCS, Uehara was left off the World Series roster.

[WpgPage]

He knows they want to trade him may as well try and go to a team where he can have the opportunity to close. Most likely not going to get that with the Jay's. To bad he had TOR on his no trade list.

[Wally West]

He knows they want to trade him may as well try and go to a team where he can have the opportunity to close. Most likely not going to get that with the Jay's. To bad he had TOR on his no trade list.

I ain't complaining. I feared that if we traded for him, we would've given up a significant prospect or two.

[WpgPage]

Yeah it would depend on the price for sure Texas is the only team that AA hasn't won a trade with so far but I still have faith it would have been a good deal for the Jays.

[Michael Bradley]

I read he wants to go back to Baltimore so that is likely where he ends up eventually. Too bad he used his NTC. With him the Jays would have had the best and deepest bullpen in baseball. Cordero is an inferior option, but at the same time all Cordero costs is money. We don't know who was going the other way in the Uehara trade (although my guess is it wouldn't have been much if Texas really wants to unload him).

[Relentless88]

Baltimore over Toronto? Koji is crazy.

[Randle McMurphy]

Too bad, he's a far better pitcher than Cordero (who was clearly Plan B). He'll probably end up back in Baltimore, dominating us for another season.

[spykelee]

Too bad, he's a far better pitcher than Cordero (who was clearly Plan B). He'll probably end up back in Baltimore, dominating us for another season.

Hey may dominate us, but dominating us and Baltimore certainly don't go in the same sentence.

[LBJSeizedMyID]

Too bad, he's a far better pitcher than Cordero (who was clearly Plan B). He'll probably end up back in Baltimore, dominating us for another season.

But Uehara's fastball is terrible 89 mph so technically by your standards he sucks

All things said it would've been nice to have Uehara, but Cordero proved last year that he was just as effective in high leverage situations (ie. closing) then Janssen, so the signing isn't all that terrible. If you think about it, with the money Madson will probably command this off season, Cordero could be a "steal' in comparison.

[satyr9]

Guys, Randle or me or anyone aren't painting a picture of Cordero just to spite you. Using peripherals or advanced metrics to judge a pitcher isn't that new and shouldn't get so many hackles raised. I will admit you'll encounter a certain degree of cynicism and snideness (sic) if you cite saves in your argument, but other than that, it's just about making a case (one that I personally think has a lot of validity).

The Cordero most of us remember seeing (the player he was the first 6-8 or so years of his career) had a 95+ heater, a decent slider, and a bleh change, threw them like 2/3, 1/4, 1/10 (all very rough) respectively and got almost all of his value out of his fastball. It was an elite and wild pitch, that lead to K's and BB's like crazy.

Last year, the FB is 93 (down 1.5 from 2010 year and 2.0 from the year before) and he doesn't use it nearly as much. That's not us saying his FB isn't good anymore, that's Cordero saying it, 'cause he isn't throwing it. He also started using a CB last year and he's only throwing 40% fastballs instead of 60%. The FB is rated as a -1.9 in pitch value, so there are metrics out there suggesting it's not good anymore either. There's also a dramatic lowering in K/9 and SwStr% to go with it and there has been a steady decline in all these things since like 2008.

The guy has an obvious career arc and where we are now is the right on the edge before he falls off a cliff. Maybe the new curveball, the improved slider and change, show he's a wily veteran who has learned a new way to pitch, which forestalls the impending plunge for a couple years, but he will not be getting out guys the way he used to and last year's numbers alone don't do enough to prove the newer approach can be sustained, because it's accompanied with an absurd babip, suggesting he had a fantastically lucky season too.

As for the comparisons to Uehara and velocity, velocity isn't everything to every pitcher. Just because Cordero's FBv is a major point for him, doesn't mean it is for Uehara. Cordero has never had control of his FB and it's value is generated almost 100% from elite velocity. As it drops it's taken for balls more often and players have an easier time catching up with it when it's in the zone. Uehara doesn't need his FB to do that as he's always been in the upper 80's and makes it work, although I admit I'm not sure how to explain why he's that good. He works with mix, movement, and location and has just insane numbers. Not only are his standard numbers superior to Cordero's (opp. BA, WHIP, ERA etc...) he's striking out 11+ K/9 with a tiny BB/9 to go with it and generating 16% SwStr.

IMO there is zero question Uehara is a far far safer bet for next year, either from last year's performance or a longer-term career projection analysis. None of which precludes a possibility that Cordero can continue his transition to aging wizard reliever and keep up solid numbers without the one pitch that led to all his success prior to 2011. It's just that it's less likely than some here want to believe.

edit: and all this makes me sound like I think I'm super duper smart about this stuff. I don't think that. My guess is it's probably pretty easy to pick apart everything I said. I was just doing a quick glance rundown of what you see when you look at his stats and trying to say why I think some are pessimistic about his chances of success going forward.

[Secueritae]

Did he pick the six teams when he signed the contract? Or is it on 6 trade occasions he can reject?

Because I'm wondering of all the teams in the MLB how Toronto is one of the 6 he doesn't want to go to.

padres
rockies
pirates
astros
kc royals
seattle mariners
Oakland A's
Cincinnati Reds

prolly 5 of those with TO, but also 3 of those are preferred destinations over Toronto

[Homer Jay]

Did he pick the six teams when he signed the contract? Or is it on 6 trade occasions he can reject?

Because I'm wondering of all the teams in the MLB how Toronto is one of the 6 he doesn't want to go to.

padres
rockies
pirates
astros
kc royals
seattle mariners
Oakland A's
Cincinnati Reds

prolly 5 of those with TO, but also 3 of those are preferred destinations over Toronto

Hitter's Park + facing the Sox/Yankees/Rays a ton. Like people say, come to the AL EAST and tack on an extra 1.00 to your ERA, and subtract likely 2.0 K/9 as well. He is far far from being the only pitcher to have us on their no trade list. He probably wants to go back to Baltimore out of loyalty since they took the gamble to bring his old azz over here in the first place.

[LBJSeizedMyID]

I'm sure that wasn't it. I'm sure it was another indication that players don't necessarily want to play in Toronto.

[Strav]

I'm sure that wasn't it. I'm sure it was another indication that players don't necessarily want to play in Toronto.

all about taxes and foreign currency first, lack of notoriety playing north of the border second - nothing to do with Toronto specifically.

[Fairview4Life]

[J-Roc]

LOL

[Graham's Cracker]

Toronto's climate played a role in Koji Uehara rejecting a trade to the Blue Jays, reports MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan. "The weather is an issue," Uehara said. "I also know how hard it is to compete in that division." Despite the toughness of the AL East, Uehara has reportedly expressed an interest in returning to the Orioles if a trade could be worked out, though he told Sullivan that he would also be happy continuing to pitch for the Rangers.

mlbtraderumors.com

He does Realize we play in a Dome... in the Summer.

[xAIRNESSx]

Those snowy summer days can be quite bothersome.

[LBJSeizedMyID]

Wherever Uehara goes, his family goes. Apparently his family still lives in Baltimore and lives there year round.

[Kaizen]

Exactly. Baltimore gets snow too so his comments about the weather make no sense.