Igawa: Yankees rights with $25M bid

[ChiCubsFan]

How good do you guys think Igawa will be? Would he be a stud 3 pitcher? If not, why do we even want him? Hill is a great 4 and Prior/Miller is an awesome 5.

 

Because hill has the potential to be a stud #2 or #3 pitcher and Igawa should produce similar to Padilla, Meche, Lilly, etc...while probably costing less.

[TheDude]

How good do you guys think Igawa will be? Would he be a stud 3 pitcher? If not, why do we even want him? Hill is a great 4 and Prior/Miller is an awesome 5.

 

I was one of the folks looking at Igawa for a while. Here are a couple of my thoughts on the matter.

 

-Igawa is likely to have his best years in the MLB sooner rather than later. There is a pattern of Japanese pitchers losing effectiveness over time in the MLB. Look for a good 2007.

 

-He compares favorably to the other left-handed options on the market.

 

-Igawa is likely a cheaper option with specific regard to the 2007 budget than other options on the market. He is more of gamble, whereas Lilly, Padilla, etc. will cost more.

 

I don't think he will be a 'stud number 3' (not quite sure even what that means), but his durability and consistency in the lineup is a plus, and it is something the Cubs staff needs. Having another lefty starter is also a plus.

 

So I don't know about 'stud' status, but I think he is a nice fit for the teams needs more than anything.

Edited November 27, 2006 by TheDude

[ctcf]

Again, do we even know if the Cubs made a bid?

[TheDude]

Again, do we even know if the Cubs made a bid?

 

To my knowledge, no specific teams have been confirmed bidders. The Cubs had been tied to Igawa's name in numerous articles over the past month however and I believe Hendry mentioned him by name in one of his quotes at the organizational meetings.

[cbbryan]

Shouldn't we hear about who won his posting soon?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

My fear is the Cubs will win the bid, and Igawa will be Kaz Ishii part deux.

[goonys evil twin]

My fear is the Cubs will win the bid, and Igawa will be Kaz Ishii part deux.

 

That would be a huge fear, but haven't people noted that Igawa doesn't have near the issues that Kaz had with walks? That is what killed Ishii.

[TheDude]

My fear is the Cubs will win the bid, and Igawa will be Kaz Ishii part deux.

 

That would be a huge fear, but haven't people noted that Igawa doesn't have near the issues that Kaz had with walks? That is what killed Ishii.

 

Yes. Back on page 1 of this thread we talked it about it a bit. Ishii had control problems in Japan before coming to the US. Igawa does have some similarities to Ishii perhaps in style, but he has demonstrated much better control than Ishii and has better numbers where you want to see them, particularly in things like K/B ratio.

[CoolHandLuke]

he seems to have worse numbers when it comes to other important things though, such as k/9 and h/9.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

he seems to have worse numbers when it comes to other important things though, such as k/9 and h/9.

 

How do you figure? He's struck out about 8.5 per 9 innings for his career, and was right around that last year. That's quite good for a starter, even if it falls with the increased competition.

[goonys evil twin]

he seems to have worse numbers when it comes to other important things though, such as k/9 and h/9.

 

How do you figure? He's struck out about 8.5 per 9 innings for his career, and was right around that last year. That's quite good for a starter, even if it falls with the increased competition.

 

I think he was saying worse than Ishii. While he may have worse k rates and give up more hits than Ishii, I'm guessing that is offset by a much better walk rate.

[CoolHandLuke]

he seems to have worse numbers when it comes to other important things though, such as k/9 and h/9.

 

How do you figure? He's struck out about 8.5 per 9 innings for his career, and was right around that last year. That's quite good for a starter, even if it falls with the increased competition.

 

I was referring to the Ishii comparison. In Ishii's last four years in Japan(age 24-27) he put up the following K's/9: 11.05, 10.96, 10.33 and 8.90.

 

In those four years his H/9 ranged from 6.74 to 8.32 (three of the years in the high 6's)

 

Igawa's K/9 in his last four years in Japan (same ages as Ishii) were 7.82, 10.24, 7.57 and 8.36. His h/9 were 8.04, 8.54, 10.39 and 7.75.

 

So while Igawa had better control than Ishii, he also seems to strike out less people and allow more hits.

[Guest]

should k/9 and hits/9 be considered as separate stats? what about hr/9?

[Southpaw191679666239]

I'll be glad when the winner is announced, because if it's the Cubs or not, perhaps it will allow Hendry to negotiate harder with other pitchers on the market (not named Gil Meche) :)

[PrimeTime]

XM radio Homeplate has been reporting that there will be an anouncement at 5pm est this evening as to who won the bidding.

 

 

Are you sure that soon? Usually it would be announced later sometime in the week.. That would be awsome though if they announced it today...

[killthegoat06]

XM radio Homeplate has been reporting that there will be an anouncement at 5pm est this evening as to who won the bidding.

 

 

Are you sure that soon? Usually it would be announced later sometime in the week.. That would be awsome though if they announced it today...

 

Nothing's happened regarding the Cubs since last Sunday. I'm bored and dying for something good to happen...

[Guest]

XM radio Homeplate has been reporting that there will be an anouncement at 5pm est this evening as to who won the bidding.

 

 

Are you sure that soon? Usually it would be announced later sometime in the week.. That would be awsome though if they announced it today...

 

Nothing's happened regarding the Cubs since last Sunday. I'm bored and dying for something good to happen...

 

every day is one day closer to opening day - that's good!

[killthegoat06]

XM radio Homeplate has been reporting that there will be an anouncement at 5pm est this evening as to who won the bidding.

 

 

Are you sure that soon? Usually it would be announced later sometime in the week.. That would be awsome though if they announced it today...

 

Nothing's happened regarding the Cubs since last Sunday. I'm bored and dying for something good to happen...

 

every day is one day closer to opening day - that's good!

 

Only if we make more good transactions. I know we won't stand pat, but I'm not excited for opening day with what we have now (Or if we sign people like Meche/Padilla/Marquis).

[Butterscup1679666578]

XM radio Homeplate has been reporting that there will be an anouncement at 5pm est this evening as to who won the bidding.

 

 

Are you sure that soon? Usually it would be announced later sometime in the week.. That would be awsome though if they announced it today...

 

Nothing's happened regarding the Cubs since last Sunday. I'm bored and dying for something good to happen...

 

every day is one day closer to opening day - that's good!

 

It won't be if we don't add some pitching.

[killthegoat06]

Before forming an opinion about whether we should sign Igawa, I was wondering whether you guys thought Westbrook/Jennings would be better than Igawa?

[CubColtPacer]

Before forming an opinion about whether we should sign Igawa, I was wondering whether you guys thought Westbrook/Jennings would be better than Igawa?

 

Jennings would definitely be. Westbrook may be (although it's close, I'm really not sure which one is better) but Igawa would be a better option than either of the other two because he can be signed rather than having to give up talent. Jennings is not coming to the Cubs unless they come down significantly with their demands for Hill, and Westbook is close enough to Igawa that it is not worth trading talent for him unless the deal was really good for the Cubs.

[Butterscup1679666578]

Anyone listening to XM whatever to see if they are saying anything?

[Rob]

Anyone listening to XM whatever to see if they are saying anything?

 

Good point.

 

*turns on XM*

[questionmarkgrace]

Its 5pm east coast time, any announcement?

[killthegoat06]

Its 5pm east coast time, any announcement?

 

They probably meant that 5pm was when the bids were due.