Yanks Win Igawa Bid

Not Lilly, Igawa


News is filtering out of the MLB that the Yankees won the bid for the right to negotiate with Kei Igawa. The reported figure is US$25million.

The Yankees won the bidding for Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa, ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney is reporting. The winning bid is expected to be about $25 million. An announcement is expected Tuesday night.

After the bidding closed Monday, the Tigers were informed of the amount of the high bid, but not which team made it, The Associated Press reported. The New York Mets bid about $15 million for Igawa, another baseball official told The AP, on condition of anonymity.

The Yankees will have until midnight at the end of Dec. 28 to work out a contract with the 27-year-old left-hander. Igawa is represented by Arn Tellem, also the agent for Yankees left fielder Hideki Matsui.

If the reports are true, then it suggests the Yankees are looking to get Igawa as their Lefty in waiting rather than Ted Lilly. Igawa is younger and has a track record of being a strike out pitcher. There's some video footage of him in action in late 2006 here. (You also get to see a single by Akinori Iwamura, who is headed to the Devil Rays. The AL East sure is loading up on Japanese talent this off-season.)

Also, here are some comparisons of Igawa and other NPB pitchers.

Again, an indication of the love of the strikeout to the detriment of other evaluation criteria. Nomo and Irabu impress with their Nolan Ryan impressions, but fall well short in every other category. Let's look again at the leaderboard in these categories:

The next chart is a comparison of these players in the seasons when they pitched the majority of their games at age 25, as Matsuzaka is doing now. You'll note that Matsuzaka's stats are in progress, but the ratios will be representative. Also, Nomo's stats are from the previous season, as he was injured in his 25 year old campaign, and opted to retire to "defect" to the US. Again, click to enlarge:

K/9 - Irabu, Igawa, Nomo
K/BB - Uehara, Matsuzaka, Igawa
WHIP - Matsuzaka, Uehara, M. Saito
ERA - Matsuzaka, M. Saito, K. Saito

The recurring names of Matsuzaka and Uehara are joined on this list by the ace of the Hanshin Tigers, Kei Igawa. He is an excellent pitcher who has also requested a posting to the Major Leagues. Like the Giants, Hanshin has declined that request more than once. I suppose I can't blame them. Where are you going to find a guy to replace your ace pitcher? Tough luck for Igawa, who is 27 and watching his best years fade away.

Just looking at that chart, it seems Matsuzaka is outlandishly good, but also Igawa is not a pitcher to be scoffed at. If I were forced to choose between the two pitchers to pitch for my life, I'd pick Matsuzaka on most days but it's hard to argue Matsuzaka is twice as good as Igawa, Igawa is certainly better than Irabu or Nomo ...and Igawa is a lefty, which is a bonus for him going to Yankee stadium. The Igawa vs. Dice-K showdowns will be good to watch.