Last week, rumors swirled that the Chicago Cubs were considering signing near-40-year-old reliever Takashi Saito. The Cubs bullpen, already crowded, simply didn’t need another expensive option – the ghosts of Bobby Howry, LaTroy Hawkins, Mike Remlinger, Mark Guthrie, Scott Eyre, and the rest still haunt these grounds.
Thank you, thank you Atlanta Braves.
Just one day after introducing Billy Wagner as their new closer, the Braves once again opened Turner Field on Thursday afternoon to announce that they had signed Takashi Saito to a one-year, $3.2 million contract that provides the opportunity to earn an additional $2.3 million through performance-based incentives. braves.com.
Look, Saito may be a fine pitcher for the Braves this year, but he was not a guy the Chicago Cubs needed to be spending as much as $5.5 million on.