I am done watching Dice-K Pitch

[connerhenry43]

I vow, when this guy pitches, I am taking the night off. I will watch a movie or do something with my wife and daughter. It is not enjoyable to watch this  guy pitch. It is torture. It is not major league caliber. His talent is, but his control is a joke. His unwillingness to attack the strike zone is a joke, and the red sox should be ashamed to throw him out there every fifth day. It was brutal watching him last year, but at least back then the results were decent (5 1/3, 2 ER, 105 pitches, 4 walks, for example)

And I do not want to hear that is just how he is; this is how it is done in the japaneese league. In 2007 (his first year) he was a joy to watch. He walked 80 in 204 innings (not greg maddux-esque, but not bad at all). Then he regressed last year (94 walks in 168 innings). Guys batted .246 against him in 2007, .211 last year. The sox preach plate discipline, patience, work the count to their hitters; why wouldn’t they demand attacking the strike zone out of their pitchers.

Everyone says the sox should trade brad penny, and they probably will. But here is the thing. When brad penny pitches, the sox usually win. When dice-k pitches, the sox lose and the games are brutal, and I mean absolutely brutal to watch. Dice K has 3+ years left on his deal. He makes a reasonable amount of money by MLB standards ($8.66 mill per year). I would call around today, field offers, take the best one. This would be the guy I would move, not brad penny, whio has been pretty solid outside of 2 starts this year. See his game log below.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6276/gamelog;_ylt=Ami4LslDinmXXe2Xw0LHNjKFCLcF

trade dice-k.

[MBz]

Though I agree in concept to what you are saying, Dice-K will not be traded because of how much the Sox paid for him.  Penny will probably be traded, we won't get much in return, but that's fine.  Personally, I'd like to see Wakefield moved to the pen as well.  I think the 4 and 5 starters should be Clay Buchholz and John Smoltz once Smoltz is ready.  Clay Buchholz is pitching too well in AAA to still be down there. 

[Gainesville Celtic]

Ha try having him on your fantasy team too!

And I traded *for* him... i thought it was a buy low situation.

Ironically the other  guys i traded for in the deal -- Votto and Quentin -- are now on the DL. Ugh.

[Boris Badenov]

Though I agree in concept to what you are saying, Dice-K will not be traded because of how much the Sox paid for him.  Penny will probably be traded, we won't get much in return, but that's fine.  Personally, I'd like to see Wakefield moved to the pen as well.  I think the 4 and 5 starters should be Clay Buchholz and John Smoltz once Smoltz is ready.  Clay Buchholz is pitching too well in AAA to still be down there. 

How much the Sox paid to acquire him shouldn't affect the decision to trade him now. That money is gone forever. In economic terms, it's a sunk cost.

I personally don't favor trading him, for what it's worth. The OP's argument about the picking a guy based on team W/L record in his starts seems weird. Last year the Sox were 23-6 in Dice-K's starts!

[xmuscularghandix]

Dice K is a good pitcher when he gets out of that japanese mentality of "i'm behind so i'd rather walk you than challenge you" when he is a bit more aggressive he's quite good.

[Atzar]

The Sox wouldn't trade Daisuke because they'd lose too much revenue from Japanese fans.  The Red Sox are huge there thanks to Daisuke and to a lesser extent Okajima, Saito and Tazawa.

[Rondo2287]

The thoughts of trading dice-k are ridiculous.  First of all he is 33-13 in his career.  Second of all, its a stated fact that Tazawa signed for less with the red sox because he wanted to play with his hero Daisuke.  So even if Dice-k is horrible and losing games, he currently holds value not only in creating a fan base over seas, but also by attracting other Japanese players to the Redsox

[KG]

It was a fairly brutal performance for Dice K tonight.

Sox will take the next 2 in this series!

[johnnyrondo]

The thoughts of trading dice-k are ridiculous.  First of all he is 33-13 in his career. 

His win/loss record isn't the best stat to use when evaluating a pitcher and especially Dice-K. He barely ever goes more than 5 innings and a lot of his wins are do the Sox quality bullpen and run production.

Dice-K is not going anywhere though. Too much invested already in him and his trade value is nil right now.

[ma11l]

The most frustrating part about all of this is Buchholz is pitching so well.  We either need to convince Dice K to go Pawtucket or put him on the DL.  He is the weak link of an otherwise great rotation and he can easily be replaced with arms at this point.  It would be silly to trade him, but give him a month off or a month in AAA.

[johnnyrondo]

The most frustrating part about all of this is Buchholz is pitching so well.  We either need to convince Dice K to go Pawtucket or put him on the DL.  He is the weak link of an otherwise great rotation and he can easily be replaced with arms at this point.  It would be silly to trade him, but give him a month off or a month in AAA.

Agreed. I'll go with the month off option. WBC has messed him up (sort of like Yao and playing for China every Summer). Goal should be for Dice-K to have his stuff back by September. Give him 2 months off if needed. Clay is wasting bullets in the minors.

[bucknersrevenge]

Word from WBZ says Dice is to miss his next start at least while he gets an examination to see if anything is wrong. At this point I think Penny is off the block. This staff now has 2 42-yr old starters in the rotation both of which coming off major offseason surgery and 1 who hasn't started a major league game for us yet. Right now the sound you're hearing is Clay banging his head against the wall.

[johnnyrondo]

Word from WBZ says Dice is to miss his next start at least while he gets an examination to see if anything is wrong. At this point I think Penny is off the block. This staff now has 2 42-yr old starters in the rotation both of which coming off major offseason surgery and 1 who hasn't started a major league game for us yet. Right now the sound you're hearing is Clay banging his head against the wall.

Clay should definitely be up with the big club. I'd still go with the 6 man rotation, with Dice K on ice. I think the 6 man rotation will keep all the pitchers fresher for October. if someone makes a sweet offer for Penny then we can move him.

[housecall]

Im not sure if anyone stated it,but its in Dice-K's contract that he can't be traded or sent down to the PawSox unless he agrees to it.His contract(agent Boris),has a lot of interesting stuff in it.

[perks-a-beast]

not to mention he takes his sweet a$$ time between pitches.