Billy

Koch

Koch has been given leave by the team to tend to personal matters, but he is not expected to return to Florida this year. Koch will be free agent this off-season, so it remains to be seen where he will pitch next year.

He is expected to be gone until Friday when he will rejoin the team.

Koch wouldn’t be an option as a closer, at least not initially. The Jays didn’t comment on whether he’d be getting a guaranteed deal.

Koch still seems likely to get a major league deal. What pitching coach wouldn’t want to be the one to turn his career around?

There was no save situation. The Sox were losing and just trying to get Koch some work. Manager Jerry Manuel said, ''He’s a guy who likes a lot of work, and we haven’t given him that intense type of work you’d like to give your closer. I’m not overly concerned with him as long as he’s throwing strikes.’' Koch’s velocity is down; he has yet to reach his normal level this season. It’s very likely that he just needs time to build up his arm strength, and will begin dominating soon. If you can use the reduced velocity and high ERA to scare his owner into a trade, do it.

Koch threw side sessions that satisfied himself, manager Jerry Manuel, and pitching coach Don Cooper, prompting Manuel to say, ''Billy Koch is our lead man. He’s the guy, no doubt about that. He just had to iron out some things.’' Manuel did add, however, that Koch, Damaso Marte and Tom Gordon can all expect to get save opportunities as the season progresses. Sounds fairly committee-ish, and maybe that’s a good route for a team that has three guys who are capable. Don’t put a lot of stock in any of this right now, though, as Manuel’s job is in jeopardy.

“There are a couple more days to go [in spring training], and I’d like to see him get better,” Guillen said. “Right now we have a lot of options in the closing role, but he’s still the man. I’m not going to lose confidence in this kid. We’ll see what happens during the season.” With Koch not showing much, Damaso Marte’s stock is back on the rise. Cliff Politte has become a sleeper.

The Mets rejected the one-for-one swap of the two relievers and have been unable to get the White Sox to go for Roger Cedeno. Although the Mets have talked with the Red Sox about Scott Williamson and also have interest in Ugueth Urbina and Braden Looper, Koch seems to top their list of potential closers. Former A’s pitching coach Rick Peterson thinks he can fix the right-hander.

"[Koch’s 11.25 ERA] is not what we like to see, obviously. But I’m not going to take the confidence out of my players because they have one bad outing, or two bad outings. We have a lot of games to go. You can’t pull the trigger right away because I’m not that type of guy. I’m going to stick with him and see what happens next time.” Koch can’t afford any more bad outings for a while, or it will be Damaso Marte’s turn.

It appears that the Sox offered Takatsu, Japan’s all-time saves leader, their closer’s role in order to get the deal done. Some other teams were interested in him as a setup man. If the job really belongs to Takatsu, the White Sox may pay some team (Pittsburgh? Montreal?) to take the final year of Billy Koch’s deal.