Comments on: Breaking down Igawa

By: Real World

Real World — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:33:23 +0000

Iggy has the stuff fellas. All he needs is to pitch lower in the zone. Guys who can get batters to swing and miss alot tend to have good stuff. People tend to forget the cultural obstacles these players have when they come over from Japan. I live in Boston and they talk about it alot with Dice-K. Dice-K wasn’t all that consistent for the Sox last year. He was great at times, and dead awful in others. They talk about how Japanese pitchers don’t attack hitters with the fastball. They tend to try to finese them to death. Let’s give Iggy a little time to see if he can get acclimated to the American game & culture. Plus, the better he performs, even in the minors, the more someone will be willing to give up for him. Some NL team would love a cost effective Japanese marketing tool. Especially a left handed one. SD anyone?

By: anti-mussina

anti-mussina — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:17:52 +0000

i dont understand what you just said OldFan. So if cashman trades for prospects and they become studs, he shouldn’t be praised cause he didnt really know how the deal will turn out.

By: Gitmo

Gitmo — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:48:00 +0000

Old Yanks Fan,

Great post on looking at Igawa. I was excited when they signed him, though I thought he’d be a Major League player, though I’m no scout. I bet most Yankee fans at the time thought so too at the time.

The same goes for the Pavano signing. I was ecstatic when they signed him. Nostradamus, nor Dionne Warwick and the pyschic friends network could’ve predicted the way that signing turned out.

By: OldYanksFan

OldYanksFan — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:00:16 +0000

Brian – Iggy did NOT cost too much. That is the prime reason Cashman got him. What does a #4 or #5 cost these days? Ted Lilly got 4/$40 for a 4.47 career ERA (just a shade better then dead average).

When you consider the Tax savings on Iggy, his contract would be the same as if we signed someone for 5/$38.5m, or $7.7m/yr. So if he a decent #5, we are fine. If he turned into a #4, it’s a bonus. This is a LHP who won the CY in Japan, and beat Dice-K in Ks 3 years.

He’s been a disappointment, but in Japan, he was 85-90% as good as Dice-K, but he cost us less then 1/2 of what Dice-K cost the Sox. Good GM moves are those where the odds are in your favor, and they were here. Would you expect the 3rd or 2nd best pitcher in Japan to be at least a decent #5 here? That’s not a crazy bet, is it?

But just because the odds are in your favor, doesn’t mean the deal works out all the time…. just 50% of the time, or better.

Cashman bashers will kick Cashman for Iggy, Contraras and Pavano. Pavano had 3 other offers, including one from the Sox. He signed for us for LESS then he was offered elsewhere. For Contraras, the Sox bought EVERY HOTEL room to try to keep the Yankees from getting him. Iggy, in terms of bang-for-the-buck, was a better deal then Dice-K.

All 3 of those deals went south, but at the time, the odds on all of them were favorable.

You can NOT judge a deal on how it turns out.
If you do, then you are assuming GMs can see the future.
You must SEPARATE from OUTCOME.
Good deals are those where the odds are favorable AT THE TIME OF THE DEAL. But nobody knows how a deal will turn out.

By: sunny615

sunny615 — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:22:18 +0000

an interesting article on Cashman's plan with Joba: The Joba Strategy Story Link

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:07:08 +0000

Maybe the Yankees hitting woes can be traced back to Joe G’s ban on junk food. Hey, you never know.

By: GoYankees

GoYankees — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:06:48 +0000

.. somewhere else. After the Yanks deal him he’ll do some pitching again.

By: rl1856

rl1856 — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:29:40 +0000

I think management is well aware of Igawa’s mechanical flaws. Most of the comments regarding him usually include some mention of the work he has done/is doing on his pitching motion. Maybe he is uncoachable ? Hopefully he will wake up one day, have a momment of clarity, change his ways, and become a middle of the rotation starter…

Best,

Ross

By: Peter Abraham

Peter Abraham — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:27:03 +0000

Mike:

I don’t hate any players. Just readers who don’t get sarcasm.

By: baseball-addiction PEDROIA STAY CLASSY

baseball-addiction PEDROIA STAY CLASSY — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:26:30 +0000

Well Pete, guess that’s why you are a writer/reporter and not a scout. Scouts don’t discuss if a guy stinks they discuss why.