Making Progress With Kei Igawa

It seems very likely that the Yankees will sign Kei Igawa to serve as their fifth starter.  According to Igawa's agent Arn Tellem:

"We are making good progress.  However, I do not anticipate reaching a deal this week."

The two parties still have nearly two weeks left to negotiate.  Igawa cost a hefty $26MM posting fee.  The AL East has recruited all the major Japanese talent this year, with Matsuzaka, Igawa, Iwamura, and Okajima all ending up in the division.  The inevitable Matsuzaka/Igawa pitching matchup should be a fun one.

Comments

[bsox21]

igawa is going to be lit up like a christmas tree.

i watched a couple of his starts recently.

he will be in the pen by May.

[bsox21]

igawa is going to be lit up like a christmas tree.

i watched a couple of his starts recently.

he will be in the pen by May.

[bravesrule14]

well since hesa on the yankees he could have an ERA of 6 and still win about 16 games

[bsox21]

true

[stormstarter28]

where did you see a couple of his starts bsox?

[sirfreshness]

First off im a bias yankee fan. Im also someone who thought we should have gone after him since the begining because even though he doesnt throw heat as long as he controls the ball he will be effective in the back end of the rotation and come realitivly cheap. I think he will turn out ok (not great) it isnt out of the question for him to throw a 4+ era and win 15 games.

[bsox21]

dl-ed from the internet.

u can also watch clips on youtube.

one word comes to mind when i watch him:

R-O-C-K-E-D

his off speed stuff isnt bad, but the fastball is BP caliber.

BP = Batting Practice

[bsox21]

"it isnt out of the question for him to throw a 4+ era and win 15 games."

if u mean a less than 5 ERA, then yes, it is out of the question.

as bravesrule said tho, he can win 15+ with a shitty ERA on the yankees, a la Beckett.

[sirfreshness]

He could have a sub 5 era. He is a flyball pitcher so he will give up the HR but if he stays undercontrol and aviods big innings he could easily have a sub 5 era. To just state someone cant do something when all you have seen is edited clips of him off the internet is silly.

[bsox21]

iv seen full starts of his.

when he's in trouble, he leaves his BP fastball up in the zone, which is exactly where MLB hitters love it.

his command would have to improve SIGNIFICANTLY for him to post a sub 5 ERA.

Forget it. It aint happening.

He has to be absolutely perfect with his weak stuff.

if he has perfect command, then he has enough of a diffrential in velocity and movement in his pithes to be a decent starter.

i didnt see any evidence that this command exists at all.

u call it "silly". i call it being a baseball fan for 25 years.

[sirfreshness]

Yes he control will have to work on, im not doubting that but to just blatantly state he coldnt throw a mediocre 5 era when you have never seen him is silly. Many scouts believed that he can produce here. Im not saying anything but he could be a good end of the rotation guy. He changed styles a few years ago (he used to try to blow his BP fastball by people) since then he has been working on his control and pitching smart. If he can figure out this style of pitching then he will be good. He wasnt the Japan Cy Young, MVP, and 3X strikeout king for no reason. He could easily be the next "fat toad" for all we know but he could be decent and i think he will.

[bsox21]

the command isnt there.

his stuff isnt good enough to get by without impeccabe command.

say hello to the yankees swing man.

[RotoAuthority]

I'd be willing to bet he comes in under 5.

Another bet I have going is that Ted Lilly outpitches Jon Lieber in terms of ERA+.

[levelboss]

earlier this year in the Japan-MLB All-Star Series, Igawa held the all-stars to 2 runs over 6 innings; i say that's not bad considering (i think) that he came off a full season by the time he pitched

and again, with the Yankee 1-9 behind him, that should be more than enough

[bravesrule14]

i think he will hover around 5.00 for most of the year, but again that Yankee 1-9 is easily one of the best lineups in thre history of baseball so he will get 15-18 wins this year.

[DoctorCurveBall]

Unrelated and I'm sure most of you have heard this but in case you haven't:

Brendan Donnelly to Red Sox
Phil Seibel to Angels.

Seems good for the Sox to me. WEEI in Boston reported the Red Sox as gettign another pitcher (probably in a separate deal) but Theo Epstein wouldn't say who.

[melyrules]

You want to hear a story. Lat year the Red Sox had a sub productive offseason. They made a deal for Josh Beckett. Beckett had a decent year last. Far worse than he had been in 2003 against the yankees in the world series. Beckett gave up a ton of homeruns last a had a bad era. The red sox trade a few players for beckett and mike lowell. One player they traded was Hanley Ramirez. Hnley had a great year and rightfully won NL rookie of the year. Another player they dealt in that deal was a guy named Anibal Sanchez. In 2006, Sanchez was incredible. And he proved by pitching a NO HITTER this year for the Marlins. In a different deal, the Red Sox traded Doug Mirrabelli for Mark Lorreta. The Red Sox must have missed Mirrabelli and a few weeks later made later made a deal to get him back, and guess who they traded for him.... Cla Meredith. Merredith was mad good for the pods and even was a nominee for set up man of the year on MLB this year in baseball awards. Imagine how the sox would be if they had those three players. There rotation would be SICK with Schilling, D-mat, Beckett, Sanchez, and Papelbon. They would have had Ramirez at short insted of a lousy Alex Gonzalez. They would have him this year to insted of a losy Julio Lugo. And Meredith would be a bullpen ace, maybe even a closer! So the sox should not have traded this Phil Seibel to the Angels, the next thing you know, he'll be a star and the Sox would be stuck with another bad player for him. So..... NL rookie of the year + No hitter + sick reliver = TERRIBLE TRADES!!!! And there all young and would be locked up for a long time on the red sox!!! Dont trade your rookies sox, dont do it.

[GoBoSox420]

Wow, so I guess the sox shouldnt make any more trades? Obviously those haven't worked out too well for us. But, wow you're stupid.

[snowmanny]

Isn't there a pretty obvious precedent for what Igawa should get? 1 million more than the posting fee, therefore 27MM over 6 years. Plus the Cy Young incentives, of course.

[melyrules]

why am I stupid? Because i splled lousy wrong?

[melyrules]

wow, i also just spelled spelled wrong. I guess when I type, I'm stupid. I try to type fast, and I suck at it. That is If by calling me stupid, you ment my typing.

[ramaboy28]

uhhh Mely, how the hell could they have Beckett AND Sanchez w/ Ramirez??????

[melyrules]

YOUR RIGHT, MY BAD. We'll just say Wakefield and Sanchez w/ ramirez

[Jimbo]

" Hi I'm a red sox fan, I just watched 10 mins of video clips from youtube and because of that I'm smart enough to predict what will happen over 6 months"

Ok guy, and I'll go watch 2 mins worth of Matsuzaka and predict his ERA to be over 5 from a video clip.

[Jimbo]

he obviously is doing something right if hes won 3 strikeout titles, and it must not be blowing people away with his "BP fastball" so he obviously has control of his off speed stuff...unless of course all japanese hitters swing out of the strike zone every other pitch....

[ArodSucksAtLife]

He's not a red sox fan.... come up with a new thing to bitch about.

[Jimbo]

I wasn't bitching I was just trying to poke fun at an idiotic comment made by someone with a name "bsox" that I figured as safe to assume was a b-sox fan...

Anyway, thats for contributing greatly to this thread yourself.. At least I made a point.