Tuesday, November 28, 2006

The Kei To The Rotation?

As I mentioned a few days ago, the Yankees were interested in Japanese LHP Kei Igawa. According to this article, the Yankees have won the rights to negotiate with the Japanese pitcher. The reported winning bid was $25 million, about half the bid the Red Sox placed to negotiate with Daiskue Matsuzaka. If true, this likely fills up the Yankees starting rotation. Wang, Mussina, Johnson, Pavano, and Igawa. Not what I was hoping for, but I'll take it. Hopefully, Cashman has a trick or two up his sleeve and finds a way to dump Pavano at the winter meetings. I think we'd all be happy if that happened.
From all accounts, Igawa is a pretty solid pitcher. Not quite Matsuzaka caliber, but pretty good nonetheless. This pretty much closes the book on Barry Zito and Andy Pettitte. I can understand why the Yankees made this move. Igawa's cost will likely be much cheaper than that of Zito or Pettitte. Cashman couldn't hold his breath either waiting for Pettitte to decide whether or not he's going to pitch in 2007. It's also likely that Pettitte, and Clemens for that matter, would feel like giving Houston another run, seeing that they are definitely trying to upgrade that ballclub. But again, let's hope Cashman has something on the burner and can still somehow make it happen. The consensus is to dump Pavano. He's by far the weakest link, but Cashman sounds committed to him, or at least to his salary.
I don't think this rotation is going to be playoff caliber, but I've seen stranger things happen. There are plenty of viable options on the farm if anyone gets hurt or falters. I think we're in good shape. We just need a first baseman.
I wonder what moves would have been made if the Tampa faction was calling the shots and not Cashman?
J

0 comments: