Red Sox make offer to Junichi Tazawa

There are a ton of huge names on the free agent market this offseason: Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, Derek Lowe, and Bobby Abreu among others. One of the names usually left off the list is pitcher Junichi Tazawa. Tazawa made waves a few months ago by becoming the first Japanese player to bypass the Japanese leagues and come straight to the MLB. There are more than a couple teams interested in Tazawa (Braves, Mariners, and Tigers to name a few.) The Red Sox have officially thrown their hat into the ring as they have entered formal negotiations with his agent, even going so far as to gave them a starting offer of $6 mil. Tazawa has an alright fastball, as well as a handful of other complimentary pitches. His stuff isn't yet on par with that of any major league pitchers so he'd probably a spend a while at Portland or Pawtucket until he's big league ready.