Considering the options out there, as long as the finalized deal comes in below the bid price for Matsuzaka, another round of loud applause to Ca$hman.

Besides, I know I like to spell and type Igawa's name a lot more than the future Red Sox SP. (Seriously, does Red Sox really think ONE excellent SP is going to win it all for them?)

26,000,194,000,000

I think (though I may be wrong) that that's roughly 26 trillion dollars, or about 510,00 times as much as the Red Sox bid for Matzusaka. I don't think much of this offer as-is, but at that rate, the Yankees could have signed everybody who has been a free agent ever, and the entire population of several medium-sized first-world countried besides.

In other words, there's a typo in your post.

Here's an inning of Kei Igawa from YouTube.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VJ4SR8Icwvw

If that is the case, than the deal would be even cheaper than one Lilly would receive for possibly the same production when factoring in luxury tax.

http://tinyurl.com/y42tgk

Can anyone compare 'our' Kei Igawa to 'their' Hideki Okajima?

Because the Yanks and Sox are #1 and #2 in financial clout, both teams might look substancially Japanese in the upcoming years.

Paying $16mil/year for Hideki Okajima MAY look decent in THIS years heavily inflated hot-stove, but it seems like a lot for a #3-#4 guy... especially one who does not have a great fastball. However, it is hard to play 'BillyBeanBall' (best bang for the buck) when you have an imperative to win every year.

Man-of-Cash is doing a great job. We are getting younger, cheaper, and continue to improve the next years team.

http://japanesebaseball.com/players/player.jsp?PlayerID=202

Next year's prize might be Koji Uehara (check out Mike Plugh's Uehara Watch). He'll be a free agent, because his team (the Giants) declined to post him.

he's a reliever, not starter... and he won't get 16 mil a year. did you mean to say Igawa?

The one comment I have on Cliff's Igawa/Matsuzaka comparison, is please run the numbers on the last 3-4 seasons for both pitchers and you will see that they inhabit different planets. Matsuzaka has become Pedro Martinez in Japan, while Igawa is a nice frontline pitcher. Matsuzaka had a 6.06 K/BB in 2006 and his ERA continues to plummet into deeper layers of the abyss.

Make no mistake, the Red Sox have a FAR superior player in Matsuzaka, but I think the Yankees may have a little something going if they can manage Igawa's pitch counts and work with him on some physical training.

1. Wang
2. moose
3. the trade
4. proctor
5. Johnson
6. pavano
7. (hughes/clippard/sanchez/rasner krstens: this list will be
shorter after the trade) – I'm thinking could be one of these guys is gone or none if the trade has melky in it
8. igawa

Because 200 innings and 17 wins a yr isnt something to laugh about.

Ill still be shocked if Proctor isnt pitching in the pen come the season. Just look like last yr Id have been shocked if Crosby was the starting CF on opening day.

I really like Proctor in a potential 7-8-9 mix with Farnsworth, Bruney and Mo. I think we should be patient; we haven't even hit the winter meetings yet. Someone may make a mistake that Ca$hmoney can take advantage of in this market. Teams may over-sign and overpay and need to move bodies. Teams may fail to sign what they need in the FA market and realize they need a piece we have an excess of. I think we have the time to be a little patient with this thing.

I'm not sure if this has been posted here before, but here's another video of Igawa pitching (from 2001). You may recognize an old friend about 14 seconds into it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLSnX2bB_7I

Wouldnt you rather have Karstens go in the 5 hole and give u 5-6 innings and have Proctor in the pen and giving you a shutdown bullpen?

"The Yankees could put together a package headed by Melky Cabrera and Humberto Sanchez to lure the Marlins into moving Dontrelle Willis out of Miami."

This is simply a middle paragraph from an article about Igawa. They don't have any support for it, they just lay it out there.

Re: Igawa. The posting fee seems a little ridiculous, but money is flying out of owners' pockets this offseason. If you're in the camp that wants to include the posting fee in the final "cost" it takes to sign a player, we still have to factor in that the fee does not count against the luxury tax. So that if Igawa signs for the reported $7 million for three years, that means that the Yankees would average $16 million over three years. That's Barry Zito/Jason Schmidt money, and no one expects Igawa to be that good. But in reality, signing a player to the Jeff Suppan/Ted Lilly/Adam Eaton type contract ($9 to $11 million/year)... would actually end up costing the Yankees around $15-$18 million/year.

So I think that if Igawa signs for $7 million/3 years, the total cost will be pretty fair for the 2006 pitching market.

18 Proctor has a plus curve ball that he featured in his spot start and long relief stints in 2005 and played a part in his success last year. Not that I think that alone will make him a successful starter, but look at it this way. If you prep a guy to start, you can still stick him in the pen when the team breaks camp (that's exactly what the Yanks did with Proctor last year), but it doesn't work as well the other way. If nothing else, being forced to have starters mentality through spring training should continue to make Proctor more of a pitcher and less of a thrower, which can only help his performance out of the pen should he wind up back there (which I imagine he will).

I saw that in the middle of that article as well and thought the same thing. Must be slow at Fox now that they decided not to let OJ on the air.

Yes, the Marlins want to deal Willis...yes, the Marlins need a CF...yes the Marlins want additional prospects but I am guessing they will get a better offer for Willis than Melky, Sanchez and a player to be named later.

I also should have read the comments that preceded mine, because I think if the $4.5 million range is what ends up happening, it's a potential steal for the Yanks. Plus there's the argument from last year: why go with a known mediocre quanity (Bernie in RF, signing Ted Lilly/Gil Meche) when you can go with a promising, younger, unknown quantity (The Kevins, Igawa). I think the Yanks have, enough pieces to put together a rotation that can easily win 90 games. And that's with three months left on the Hot Stove.

Iggy looks cool. Here's hoping he brings his penchant for strikeouts, and his bright blue mitt to the Bronx.

He wore #29 on the Tigers, which was Dotel's number. Hopefully, he wears it better than Octavio.

I have tepid expectations, but he looks like a pitcher who, with the support of a generous umpire, will not tend to annoy me.

"One person who follows Japanese baseball closely called him "a thin David Wells" because of his repertoire. Igawa throws a fastball, changeup and curveball, and the scout said his curve could be his best pitch if he learned to control it."

Bring on the thin David Wells.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spyanks294994707nov29,0,6436496.story?coll=ny-sports-headlines

The first time this notion was discussed, we tried to think of an example of a player around 30 who has pitched out of the bullpen for several years in a row suddenly becoming an effective MLB pitcher. We could not think of one.

Holy oxymorons, Batman!

A thrifty George Steinbrenner. A short but lovely Randy Johnson. A forlorn Derek Jeter. A clutchy A-Rod.

"a goutless David Wells" perhaps?

40 An arrogant Mariano Rivera. A laid back Jorge Posada. An iron man Carl Pavano. This is kind of fun.

I think it's safe to assume, at the very least, Igawa will have a better work ethic than Wells.