Do the Yankees just eat the posting bid and let him go?

Nah, they won't eat it. If they can't get something reasonable for him, they let him start in AAA next year in hopes of boosting his stock. I think he has pitched reasonably down there (in his several stints). If HRs are his problem, Petco could be the solution.

Huh? I'm not a Pods fan, but okay, I guess.

A minor leaguer or bullpen help?

Do the Yankees just eat the posting bid and let him go?

No. If the Yanks send Igawa to the Padres, he will have success and that will make them look bad. In addition, they will have flushed 26 million dollars completely down the drain. They aren't letting Igawa go for some small salary relief, even if it means they have a 40 million dollar AAA starter for the next three years.

If the Yanks send Igawa to the Padres, he will have success

Why, because Kevin Towers has magic pitcher juice? He may have some success, or he may continue to flounder just as badly as he has with the Yanks. I don't exactly recall the Fat ##### Toad, for example, lighting up the league after the Yankees cut bait.

I think the NL West hands out magic pitcher juice... but honestly, wouldn't there be a better way for the padres to spend 4 mil a year? they must see something.

Igawa's striking out a respectable amount of hitters, 17.5% of batters faced. Why is he so tateriffic?

Why, because Kevin Towers has magic pitcher juice?

Yup.

I don't exactly recall the Fat ##### Toad, for example, lighting up the league after the Yankees cut bait.

He was on the Padres before the Yankees (well, not actually on them), not after.

Why is he so tateriffic?

Because his outpitch is a high change up.

He was on the Padres before the Yankees (well, not actually on them), not after.

I know :)

Point wasn't about the Pads, point was about pitchers cut by the Yankees after meh performances. See also Weaver, Jeff; Vasquez, Javier; Neagle, Denny; I'm sure some others.

Wells, David?

Point wasn't about the Pads, point was about pitchers cut by the Yankees after meh performances.

Ah, see, if it were most other teams, I wouldn't be so sure of it, but with the Padres, I have no doubt that Igawa would make something of himself there. I'm also positive he would be worse as a Pirate.

I would like to see Igawa in a Pads uni for sure. I'm also with CbP that he would do good with the Pads and worst with the Pirates...

Interesting indeed.

I'm shocked by how quickly the Yanks decided to give up this investment. I'll wait to see what the Pads are willing to give up, but my initial impression is a decent waiver pick for SD.

Everyone goes on waivers this time of year. The Yankees haven't decided to give up this investment until they let the Padres have him.

Dammit, I hate the Yankees. Somehow they'll get good prospects out of this and probably recover a decent chunk of change as well. Bastards.

Hopefully, this is just 1 of the 1000 "Player A made it through Waivers".

ESPN's Buster Olney says it's 50-50 whether the Padres will complete a deal with the Yankees for Kei Igawa.
Olney says the Padres won't be picking up any portion of the $26 million posting fee the Yankees paid to negotiate with Igawa, but that they would be willing to give up some actual talent for him. The Yankees would probably want relief help in return and could ask for Cla Meredith.

That's from rotoworld. Kevin Towers really must not care what the media out there says. "OMG He traded Linebrink for nothing and Meredith for worse than nothing!"

ESPN's Buster Olney says it's 50-50 whether the Padres will complete a deal with the Yankees for Kei Igawa.

why do they even bother listing the ESPN before his name? He's their staff Yankees writer. If you're going to hang onto the ESPN, call him ESPN's Yankees Correspondent.

By my count he allowed 8 home runs in 30 1/3 innings before being sent to Tampa/the minors, and 7 home runs in 31 2/3 innings after returning. So if you squint, you can see some improvement there :-)

For the Yankees to justify an outlay of almost $30 million, getting a fungible reliever back is not nearly enough.

Seriously - more teams (especially in a park like PETCO or AT&T;) out to take a shot at him. A SP signed for 4 years at $4 million per year? That's MR money these days. His translated K-rate (as per BP) is 7.3 K/9 - there might be something there , given a more patient team and a HR-killing park like PETCo.

in 2008, will the average yankee fan even remember all the wasted money on igawa? Now, if he stays with the team, that's a different story. It might be a good PR move to get a reliever for him and then spin it with "well, we never knew hughes and joba were going to be ready this quickly"

A great game by Hughes, Joba dominating, and now the news that Igawa may be gone and possibly getting a decent middle reliever in return... well today's been a pretty good day for Yankee fans.

Isn't Towers BFF with Cashman? I know Towers' been highly supportive of Cashman earlier when the Yanks were struggling. I would think if Cashman negotiates in good faith and not try to stick up the Pads for their best prospects, this should get done. I'd take a handful of B or C level prospects at this point for a guy the manager and front office has absolutely no confidence in.

Because his outpitch is a high change up.

Having yet to see Igawa, is this an example of a pitcher who can be successful in NPB, but not in MLB, for exactly this reason?

Having yet to see Igawa, is this an example of a pitcher who can be successful in NPB, but not in MLB, for exactly this reason?

Yes, sort of. I'm not convinced he's hopeless in MLB. Yankee Stadium and the AL East are not exactly elixers for HR prone pitchers. Towers has always been good at finding the right guys for his team as opposed to the most talented and priciest guys. Adrian Gonzalez, with his incredible op-field doubles power is an excellent example.

For the Yankees to justify an outlay of almost $30 million, getting a fungible reliever back is not nearly enough.

That $30 million is not walking through this door, Rich. Let the dream go. By the way, Igawa makes my list of the top 1 ugliest players in baseball. not a handsome man.

Meredith wouldn't make it through waivers, right? So it would have to be a PTBNL I guess. If I'm Cashman I'd really have to wonder if you aren't getting help for the remainder of this year, why do it? His value is so low right now.

That's a really good point. If they're getting a modest return, it better be a modest return that contributes to the current high leverage situation. They have the whole offseason to worry about bullpen patches and backup first basemen, and they can use Igawa as a chip then, if needed.

Yankee Stadium and the AL East are not exactly elixers for HR prone pitchers.

Exactly, but what I was asking was more along the lines of whether a high change-up as an out pitch is an acceptable tradeoff in NPB (less homers per AB, and therefore less damaging when thrown poorly) but not in MLB, to the point that it can drive a successful NPB pitcher to underperform his MLEs for that reason.

Adrian Gonzalez, with his incredible op-field doubles power is an excellent example.

And you're just killing this Rangers fan by mentioning the 2nd best player in that deal.

Exactly, but what I was asking was more along the lines of whether a high change-up as an out pitch is an acceptable tradeoff in NPB (less homers per AB, and therefore less damaging when thrown poorly) but not in MLB, to the point that it can drive a successful NPB pitcher to underperform his MLEs for that reason.

Specific pitcher/player profiles would be an outstanding addition to MLEs. For instance, it could introduce degrees of variance based on the most similar players. Speaking of high changeups, does this mean that Johan Santana would post a negative ERA in NPB? Does it mean the Yankees maybe shouldn't pay him one billion dollars? That's the Twins fanboy in me dreaming.

I'd say that Japanese pitchers in general, even the good ones, are tateriffic. I chalk it up to the differences in leagues. In NPB the longball is not really emphasized, and a pitcher has maybe two or three guys on each team who will really punish a mistake. In MLB, especially the AL, generally 1-9 if you miss your spot, if you go inside and don't get it inside, bam, you're looking at a homer.

Look at Sasaki. He pitched in bandboxes his whole career in the Central League, and was one of the hardest guys to homer off of. He came to MLB and right off the bat lost the closer job because he was giving up homers left and right...in Safeco.

Matsuzaka gave up .72 HR/9IP in Japan, but in MLB just about exactly 1 HR/9IP (.93 HR/9IP if we go by BB-ref's neutralized stats.)

That's a problem with MLB, not Japanese pitchers.

If Cla Meredith has made it through waivers, there are about 25 teams that should be embarrassed. Of course, this is just Olney talking out of his ass.

I don't think Meredith made it though, I think it would be an agreed upon PTBNL... but even so that's not really a good deal for NY. Do you think Meredith would do well in Yankee Staduim? Do you think NY could sign as good a FA? Do you think they have better options in the minors? I do. I think Edwar R., Chris B. and Russ O. will all be in the Yankees bullpen to start next year, all potentially as effective as Meredith.

I don't see how the difference between the nothing the Yankees would get by simply letting him go and what little the Pads would offer should be a factor here.

If you think he can be a decent back of the rotation guy, then you don't move him for anything the Pads would offer at this point. If you don't think he's any good, you dump him and be happy with the $25+ mil in saving (including tax).

Personally, I would just let him go. I wonder if Towers plays hardball if Cashman would too.

By the way, Igawa makes my list of the top 1 ugliest players in baseball. not a handsome man.

No he isn't, though a credible case could be made he isn't even the ugliest Japanese guy with the Yankees.

At this point, he costs the Yankees $4M per year and he has options. Unless they can get a player with some value for him or enough cash to matter, they're better off keeping him and hoping that he can figure it out enough to at least become a reliever.