All I have to do to be thankful for Kei Igawa is think of one thing:

Carl Pavano.

Compared to that clown, Igawa is a STEAL at $11M a year, even if he pitches 4 innings a start. Better than–what did that arcticle say? $5M or $8M per victory?

I’m just stunned Matt Cain was so bad. All I’ve been reading is how the Giants are 2-12 when he starts but none of that is his fault. Granted, they still only scored three runs last night, but Cain didn’t help much.

Draft Alan Horne!

Ted Lilly’s not so great. I’m not happy with Igawa, but i’m happier with him than I am with Lilly, I think. Lilly would never consent to being a long reliever or going to the minors, at any rate.

Also, Igawa is a lot more tradable than Lilly would have been. His contract is $4 million a year, which could be a steal if Igawa ever comes around to being a league average pitcher. Lots of potential value there, and that might have been in the back the Yankee’s minds when they signed him.

It’s my fault — that fifth inning was when I got home and turned the tv on to see how the team was doing.

If Iggy can only go three innings, pair him up with Roger.

Ted Lilly: (4 yrs @ 40m) + 40% tax = $56mil = $14mil/yr
Iggy-San: $25m (untaxable) + 21m + 40%(of 21m) = $54mil for 5 years = $11mil/yr.

So Iggy isn’t cheap (although he was the 2nd best pitcher in Japan), but is still $3mil/yr cheaper then the great Ted Lilly would have been.

So IF Iggy works out as a 4.5 ERA, 5th starter, he will be a ‘decent’ deal. I think he CAN pitch, but his head is getting in the way. Its a long way from Japan to the USA.

I still think he can pan out for us.

For what it’s worth, I thought the difference was that he had some of his stuff low and the rising fastballs that are too high when guys swing at them, were just that. I think before that just too much of his stuff was too high all the time and allowed guys to tee off on him. His curves especially, which he didn’t throw too many of last night.

So this could be an excellent omen. I think the Yanks have a number of 9 and 1 or 8 and 2 runs left in them.

And as for the Sawks, I still don’t buy it. I don’t buy Pedroia and Youkillis as .320 hitters, I don’t buy Tavarez or Okajima. I don’t buy Matsuzaka and Beckett as 20 + game winners. They have several 5 and 5 and 4 and 6 streaks left in them. They will wind up at 90 or 91 wins not at over 100 wins.

His pitches seem to end up with the same results as Clippard’s so until/unless he blows up again they might as well keep Clippard pitching on rotation in the minors.

Is Igawa baseball’e first $46 million long reliever?