Gyroball

[GeoffM]

$51 mill to negotiate...geesh.

Check out the 2nd pitch in this video. That pitch broke 2 feet.

[GTDawg]

It's like trying to throw a football while holding a baseball. It looks funky as hell. Also, the seams can be hidden and it's thrown with the same armspeed as a fastball.

So, the batter will see the arm speed of a fastball and won't see any funky seam spin (say from a curve or slider), but the ball will go slower than a fastball and take a left-turn after it goes 58 feet.

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Also, put that $51mil in to perspective.

That's $51mil to get an unbelievable foothold in the east asian market. TV/Ad revenue, Jerseys, etc etc.

That's a 26yo pitcher that is probably the best on the market and a #1a to go with Curt and provide insurance in case Paps shoulder or Beckett still isn't a rotation anchor.

That's preventing anybody else from getting him. Especially the Yankees.

[GeoffM]

Would it not be better for the Red Sox to try and get this guy around $12.5M for 4 years, with as many club options added to the contract as they can? This would help them spread out the average cost per year of adding him should he become a huge star. I know Boras is a hardball agent, but apparently he has a good relationship with Epstein.

I mean, thinking about it, this money could have been spent on 2 year deals for Schmidt and Zito, adding 2 pitchers to their rotation, instead of 1.