Former Yankees left-hander Kei Igawa has signed a two-year deal with the Orix Buffaloes, according to a report from Nikkan sports (Japanese link) which was passed along by Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker (via Twitter). Igawa's deal is worth ¥200M, which is roughly $2.5MM USD.
The Bombers invested a total of $46MM in the Japanese import, paying a $26MM posting fee to his Japanese club and $20MM to the pitcher. Igawa, now 32, posted a 6.66 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 71.2 innings for the Yanks. The left-hander spent the rest of his Yankees contract pitching in the minors, mostly with the club's Triple-A affiliate.
He came to the US made a bunch of money while doing nothing and now gets a contract in Japan for $2.5M…
Doing nothing on the big league level, yeah. But it’s not like he was running some scam where he sat on his rear end.
He still went to work every day and pitched his innings in good faith, to honor his contract and because the always had hope they’d give him another shot. 5 years of pitching in Scranton isn’t doing nothing.
It sure wasn’t his choice to go four years without sniffing the big leagues.
Future’s so bright, he’s gotta wear… nevermind.
Who would even… did Omar Minaya get a GM gig in Japan?
Omar Minaya is now working in the Padres front office.
I guess you didn’t understand the joke?
Easily one of the worst signings in Yankees history. What a bum this guy is.
That signing is one of the last vestiges of the George Steinbrenner moves. Igawa’s signing was a knee jerk reaction to the Yankees losing out on Matsusaka to the Red Sox. That’s a time when there was boatloads of money in the economy,the competition fierce between NY and Boston and Asian players were the rage in MLB.
Cashman didn’t want to sign Igawa, but George and the marketing dept needed to make a splash, so they signed the best pitcher from an inferior league that was available.
Cashman has taken the hit all these many years, but it really wasn’t his signing. That’s one of the reasons he voiced his displeasure when Levine and Hal went over his head and signed Soriano the year before.
Bye.
I think the majority of the readers are going to be….who?
I love when the Yankees get burned on bad contracts.
He had to leave the country because he is wanted in NY for theft