What about Igawa?
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Nov 06, 2008 
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Now that Carl Pavano is (hopefully) gone, the biggest waste of money in the organization is LHP Kei Igawa.
The K-Man is 2-4 with a 6.66 ERA over two seasons. He has pitched in 16 games for the Yankees, 13 of them starts. But Igawa was a solid 14-6, 3.45 for AAA Scranton last season. Over 156.1 innings he allowed 141 hits and walked 45 with 117 strikeouts. That’s pretty decent.
Surely there be some sort of market for Igawa? Perhaps a National League team with a big park?
“No,” said Brian Cashman. “Nobody has asked me about him.”
Nobody?
“Nobody.”
There you have it. Igawa, who is 28, has three years and $12 million left on his deal. I have no clue what the Yankees do with him. He was outrighted off the 40-man roster last season, so he may not even get invited to spring training. I suppose he’ll just keep chucking for Scranton.
I find it hard to believe he can’t be used in the NL.
I say make life miserable for him so he’ll go crawling back to Japan.
Funny, I kinda don’t even care anymore.
Have clueless Kei address the assembled GM’s and tell them that he’s pitching well, that he only tossed four bad pitches. Promise them that if they sign him, he might one day be a Triple-A all star.
if he’s not part of a trade, just release him.
“if he’s not part of a trade, just release him.”
Smart way to get rid of an asset.
A lefty who has had success in AAA can pitch in the majors for someone.
Biggest waste of money ever. I can’t believe he was Cash’s answer to Boston getting Dice-K, LOL. Just based on that alone Cash needs to blow away CC with their offer.
a 666 era? It’s a Omen! Of course he would have that number, you just can’t make this stuff up!
I say make life miserable for him so he’ll go crawling back to Japan.
haha. i like the thought.. but he has enough money now.
that’s kinda sad.
Smart way to get rid of an asset.
A lefty who has had success in AAA can pitch in the majors for someone.
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Huh? An asset? Zero interest = asset???
Some teams are being pretty narrow minded here I think. No doubt in my mind Igawa could be serviceable as a 4th or 5th for an NL team with good pitchers park, and where the pressure is not enormous. Somewhere like San Francisco? Kei has the stuff to be ok, just not with the Yankees and definitely not in the AL East. Some team should take a flyer on him, offer an OK prospect and to take a small portion of his contract and the Yanks pay most of it. It could be worth it for some team.
Cashman should just release him already and consider it a gambling lost.
Wow.
When you fail with the Yankees, it is a very, very public failure. No whitewash job is possible.
It’s too bad it didn’t work out, Really, really too bad. Both for the Yankees, and Igawa. I kind of feel bad for him (not as far as the money goes, however, since he’s going to be paid whether or not he succeeds). I’m sure Igawa didn’t plan for this happening. I’m sure he felt he’d do well enough in the States. I don’t feel bad for the Yankees. They apparently didn’t do enough homework here, even considering that they never tried to pass Igawa off as anything more than a #4 or #5 starter – he hasn’t even been that.
Ed and myself, volunteer to pack up all his playstation games
“I find it hard to believe he can’t be used in the NL.”
Absolutley. “Nobody has asked me about him.†is about as lame an answer as you can get from a marketing point of view. Get pro-active BC, promote his AAA stats (don’t those equate to parts of the NL anyway), add another ingredient (Betemit) and sell it to a team like the Nationals for some prospects. They must have drafted someone we could develop since they’ve been in last place.
Get some ROI for this guy.
Vinny,
lol. ditto!
update >>>>>
The sad thing is that when Cashman said nobody was interested in Igawa, he was rounding up.
Still there no big reason to ditch him.
Gotta pay him anyway, and since he’s not on the 40 man anymore, his salary doesn’t count towards the luxury tax cap, so no extra penalty. May as well hang on to him and hope someone finds him worthwhile for something, or that he gets exasperated and goes back to Japan -hopefully voiding his contract.
The best the Yanks will probably do is to package him in a deal, and pay 95% of his salary. Still, I think teams want to see the Yanks stuck with this turkey of a player.
The only way he gets to bronx is they are looking for a delivery man here.. http://www.kims-sushi.com/
I wouldn’t blame him if he turned to booze.
maybe the can get him to retire
Igawa and Pavano in the same post!!
Yak! I think my kids just wake up crying hearing those names.
Igawa can make the AAA team more competitive, thus making it a better training ground for prospects.
That’s all I got for US$12 million.
The glass is 1/18th full.
Can we trade him back to a Japanese team for prospects?
39M for Pavano or 46M for Igawa. I’d say the 46M guy is the bigger bust.
Another overvalued stiff by Cashman. Had a few chances to get rid of him, but he wouldn’t pull the trigger as usual.
I don’t think he’ll get traded this year, but if he continues to do fairly well for Scranton, maybe he’ll get traded in a package at the deadline or maybe next off-season, with some or all of the remaining money covered. Two years of a lefty starter is something that some team should want to take a shot at. I’m thinking either Padres, Mariners, or Giants. I wouldn’t expect much in return, but maybe like a 1B/OF prospect if the Yanks cover the money.
First meeting why should anyone ask? You’d want the Yankees to give you Igawa for free and eat up most of is contract.
But at some point this offseason they got to get rid of this guy. Not enough room in the rotation down there in Scranton.
Maybe they should try those “he added a couple of mphs to his velocity” “he’s in the best shape of his life” “he found a new pitch that will make him much better” stories in spring training.
I agree with those who find it hard to believe that no National League team has interest in Igawa. It is a question of how much salary the Yankees are willing to eat.
I remember I had read a report earlier this year that Igawa had asked to be released from his contract to go back to Japan. Obviously, the Yankees refused to do so after having had to pay a $20M posting fee in addition to Igawa’s contract. I don’t believe the team has completely given up on him just yet.
He has 3 years 12 million left on his contract? That’s $4 million a year heck I’d throw at Scranton for 4 million a year, wow. He probably wouldn’t be able to command that kind of a contract in Japan so he would definitely try to play until his contract expires. Then he might go back to Japan in 3 years perhaps. Let’s hope he gets into Major league form and gets back to the big leagues(Bronx!).