According to Ken Rosenthal, the Sox have signed ex-Dodgers reliever Takashi Saito to a one-year deal with a club option for 2010. The deal is for between $1.5 and $2.5 million guaranteed, and Saito could earn as much as $7 mil with incentives.

Like Smoltz, Saito is coming off injury, and he'll be 39 to start the season, but he's been very effective while healthy in the last three years as the Dodgers' closer. But also like Smoltz, he has a chance to be one of the most effective players at his respective position if he can come back full healthy. In 189.2 career innings pitched, Saito has a 1.95 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 0.182 BAA, 245 Ks, 52 BBs, 81 saves, and only 9 homers allowed. With the additions of Smoltz and Penny, it seems likely that one of them (or perhaps Wakefield, though I find that less likely than a return to relief for Smoltz) will find themselves the odd man out in terms of the rotation if and when everyone is at full strength, and that can only be a good thing for the bullpen as it will make it that much stronger. Looking at a middle-to-late inning relief corps of Aardsma, Delcarmen, Okajima, Masterson, Ramirez (acquired from KC for Crisp), Saito and the immortal Jonathan Papelbon, the Sox figure to be much improved in that area next year (at least we won't be counting on Timlin...).

Looks like they're taking the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays approach as far as that goes, and that worked out pretty well for them, wouldn't you say?