Projo Sports Blog

By DANIEL BARBARISI
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- Pitcher John Smoltz says he is healthy, motivated, and ready to help the Red Sox win in 2009 -- and he wouldn't have come here if he wasn't.

"I'm as determined and as focused as I've ever been," Smoltz said this morning at Fenway Park.

Smoltz, 41, passed his physical yesterday, attended a Boston Celtics game last night, and was officially introduced as the newest member of the Red Sox this morning. He spent the past 20 seasons with the Atlanta Braves, where he won 210 games, saved 154, and won the 1996 NL Cy Young.

"Atlanta will always be my home. I've raised four children there; I've built a school. That won't change. The uniform has changed. The desire won't change, or the work ethic."

He signed a $5.5 million, one-year contract, with incentives that could pay him as much as $5 million more, mostly for time spent on the active roster.

Smoltz underwent major shoulder surgery last summer to repair multiple problem areas, including both his rotator cuff and his labrum, but the righthander said he has recovered remarkably well from the fifth surgery of his long career.

"I'm feeling great. I have, over the last five surgeries, been a quick healer. And I'm very determined to rehab," Smoltz said.

The Red Sox, he said, didn't go into this blindly, and have done enough homework on his health to know he'll be able to contribute.

"They put their hands on me, and they saw what they were getting. They saw what I'm capable of doing," Smoltz said.

General manager Theo Epstein said that Smoltz could be ready to pitch by opening day, but that the team will hold him out for longer than that regardless in order to make sure he is as strong as possible for the second half of the season.

"He passed our physical yesterday with flying colors," Epstein said. "We feel like, if we absolutely had to have him ready in April, he could do that... our doctors described him as a physical freak. He has already overcome more than most, and this is just another example."

Although he has excelled as a reliever before, Smoltz will be a starter in Boston, and he joins a rotation that could include Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Brad Penny, and Tim Wakefield.

Epstein said that signing Smoltz will make a difference on the mound, in the clubhouse, and in compiling the roster, as he provides ability, depth and leadership in one package.

"It's a very significant day for the Red Sox to sign someone of his caliber, his accomplishments, and his talent," Epstein said.

 Tags  Boston Red Sox John Smoltz

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