With the second biggest splash of the offseason so far, the Red Sox have announced the signing of Junichi Tazawa:
The Red Sox have formally announced the signing of Japanese righthander Junichi Tazawa
The 22-year-old Tazawa reached an agreement with the Sox on a three-year contract earlier this week, and the Globe's Amalie Benjamin and Tony Massarotti have learned that the the total value of the contract is $3.3 million.
Tazawa will receive a $1.8 million bonus, with salaries of $450,000 in 2009, $500,000 in '10, and $550,000 in '11. The Sox retain his rights as a pre-arbitration eligible or arbitration eligible player until 2014.
With Tazawa being 22 and starting in Double-A, we have to consider him a prospect. How does this change the Red Sox rankings? I could see Tazawa sliding into the No. 3 spot potentially, behind two of my favorite prospects, Lars Anderson and Michael Bowden.