Baltimore entered the offseason with exactly one rotation spot filled, so to say it needs pitching help would be an understatement of epic proportions. The Orioles signed journeyman Mark Hendrickson last week. Now they've erased another of the question marks after Jeremy Guthrie by agreeing to two-year deal with Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.
Uehara, who will be 34 on Opening Day and who has an outstanding international resume, will be the first Japanese player in franchise history -- a strange thought considering the impact talent from the Far East that currently resides in the AL East.
The signing certainly could pay future dividends, as Peter Schmuck writes, but the question in the short-term is just how he'll fit in at Camden Yards and how he'll cope with pitching in the toughest division in baseball.
His agent thinks he'll be outstanding:
"I have a lot of confidence in this guy. He'll take the ball every fifth day and can be a No. 2 or 3 in a very difficult division," [Mark] Pieper said. "This will be a challenge for him but he is clearly up for it."
Of course, agents are paid to think and talk like that about their clients.
For a brief minute last week it seemed certain that Mike Cameron and Melky Cabrera would switch teams, but Brewers GM Doug Melvin confirmed that the proposed trade with the Yankees has officially died. What happened? Apparently both sides took the "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" mantra a little too far, refusing to follow up discussions that began during the Winter Meetings with a phone call.
Melvin told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "I haven't heard from (Yankees general manager) Brian Cashman, and I haven't called him. Cashman confirmed as much to the New York Post, saying "He hasn't told us, we haven't talked since Vegas.
Pick up the phone, fellas, there's still time to get this deal done! Or ... maybe not. Talks first began to stall when the Yankees asked the Brewers to either pay a portion of Cameron's $10 million salary or take on the remaining $12 million Kei Igawa is owed over the next three years. The Brewers balked, and uless they have a change of heart, this deal will likely stay dead. As a Yankees official told the New York Daily News:
"Maybe he thinks we'll be upset and jump back in," the official said when informed of Melvin's comments. "We didn't think Cameron was worth $10 million - and we still don't. I guess (Melvin) finally got the message."
It sounds to me like the Yankees drew a line in the sand. Unless Melvin suddenly feels like subsidizing the Yankees' outfield, this one probably isn't going to happen.
Mark Teixeira, Braves Buzz: Though Atlanta has denied a willingness to trade Teixeira over the last few weeks, the club appears to be moving toward becoming a seller. How the Braves play over the next week will likely determine whether or not the team moves the slugger.
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A.J. Burnett, Blue Jays Buzz: Though several teams have scouted Burnett, trade movement remains slow as teams balk at the right-hander's uncertain contract status. He has great stuff and would be a quality No. 2 starter for a contender down the stretch.
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Brian Fuentes, Rockies Buzz: The closer has reportedly been scouted by seven different clubs over the last few days, but Colorado's asking price -- rumored to be a top pitching prospect -- might be scaring potential suitors off. Florida will not deal Chris Volstad for Fuentes, but is still pursuing a deal for the southpaw.
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George Sherrill, Orioles Buzz: The Cardinals and Angels are among the teams who have asked about the closer, while the Brewers are not. Baltimore's rumored asking price is said to be two or three prospects.
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Barry Bonds, Giants Buzz: The Yankees are the latest team to say they won't rule out pursuing the all-time home run king now that Hideki Matsui could miss the rest of the season. Hank Steinbrenner has admitted that the team will discuss Bonds in the next few days as they go over their options.
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Jarrod Washburn, Mariners Buzz: The Seattle left-hander is drawing interest from the Yankees, who could use him to bolster their rotation. While not an ace, Washburn is a reliable innings-eater.
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Huston Street, Athletics Buzz: Though some teams are worried about the recent drop in his arm angle and velocity, Oakland's closer seems to have no shortage of suitors. The Reds are the latest team believed to have expressed interest in Street. The Brewers have also made inquiries about his availability.
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Greg Maddux, Padres Buzz: San Diego would ideally like to move the future Hall of Famer, but he has a full no-trade clause and is rumored to only be willing to accept a deal to a West Coast team.
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Brian Giles, Padres Buzz: Giles is an on-base machine and a solid defender who could give a contender looking for a corner bat a boost. Getting out of pitcher-friendly Petco Park could lead to a power spike.
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Andy LaRoche, Dodgers Buzz: LaRoche, L.A.'s No. 2 prospect entering the season according to Baseball America, is reportedly being showcased for a potential deadline deal.
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If ever there was an omen that it might be time to let go of this season, wouldn't injuries to the team's best pitcher and hitter on the same night be it? Teixeira is certain to leave this winter and if Atlanta holds on to him all it will get is a pair of early draft picks. They stand to get much better talent in a deadline deal, even considering Teixeira's rental status.
- I got a chance to see A.J. Burnett's rain-shortened start last night in Baltimore. There were plenty of scouts in attendance, though some of them were probably there in hopes of seeing Orioles closer George Sherrill. Burnett has good raw stuff -- a fastball he gets to 95 mph with ease and a tough curveball in the low-80s. Still, Orioles hitters made good contact on him. He's a very good, but fragile No. 2 starter, who could help a number of contenders, but his uncertain contract status continues to make potential suitors cautious. Don't put too much stock into the Roy Halladay rumors, Burnett is still the most likely to get moved of any of Toronto's pitchers.
Kei Igawa's return to a major league mound looked pretty familiar to Yankee watchers. He gave up 11 hits and six runs in three innings as his pedestrian stuff floated up to the plate like beach balls which the Tigers were all to happy to deposit into all corners of the outfield. He got two swings and misses out of the Motowners and, needless to say, no strikeouts.
The only positives were that he didn't give up a home run or walk anyone. Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?
"The plan is for him to start again in five days, but sometimes ... I mean, that's the plan," Girardi said.
Igawa probably didn't need his interpreter to pass that message along to him. The Yankees aren't overrun with options for the start, however. Ian Kennedy impressed in his first start for Scranton but needs more time in the minors to satisfy both the rules and the intent that sent him there. Two other Scrantonites are on the 40-man roster,. Steven White has done well in AAA, Jeff Marquez has struggled and neither has pitched in the big leagues before.
The most reliable starter for the 2008 Yankees figured to be Andy Pettitte. Chien-Ming Wang is coming off a nightmarish playoffs and has lingering shoulder issues while Mike Mussina was terrible for most of 2007 before losing his spot in the rotation. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are both gifted with talent but they're young, which usually means inconsistent, and, no matter what, will have limits on their innings. Joba Chamberlain, another neophyte, is ticketed for the bullpen. That left Pettitte as the foundation.
How secure can they be in that feeling after what went on in D.C. this week? Pettitte is going to face nonstop questions about Roger Clemens, PEDs and myriad other things that have nothing to do with baseball. Even Mussina isn't sure what to expect from his teammate.
"This is a different animal than anything he's gone through before," Mussina said. "It's going to be everywhere, and it's going to be hard. We're expecting Andy to pitch 190 or 200 innings and win 15 games or so. The question is, can he deal with all of this and focus on pitching at the same time?"
If all breaks well the Yankees will be fine. If it doesn't, though, they'll be looking for contributions from Kei Igawa and Darrell Rasner. That can't fill anyone with confidence, except maybe the gang up in Boston.
Now that baseball is back from its holiday break, the Hot Stove is back in business which means that it's time to check in on the Johan Santana discussions. There was a report over the weekend that Hank Steinbrenner, he of the deadline on a trade, said he's leaning toward pulling the trigger and that he, not Brian Cashman, has final say on such matters.
In and of itself, that's not earth-shattering news. But taken with his earlier comments when the new Boss appeared fine with a hefty contract extension and LaVelle E. Neal's article from this weekend's Minneapolis Star-Tribune, it does seem like Santana could be pinstripe-bound. The Twins have reportedly relinquished their demand that the Bombers include Ian Kennedy in their package and expressed a willingness to accept other players along with Phil Hughes and Melky Cabrera. One would likely be minor-league hurler Jeff Marquez and, according to Neal, the other could be Kei Igawa.
On the surface, that seems outlandish. Igawa was terrible in New York this season and won't ever be more than a back of the rotation starter. He has four years at $4 million per left on his deal which you'd think would make the Twins leery of him but may actually help foster a deal. The Yankees have expressed a desire to slice some payroll if they add Santana's salary and moving Igawa would be a way to make that happen.
Apparently the rough translation to American baseball for Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa hasn't soured the New York Yankees on Japanese pitchers. The agent for Kazuo Fukumori says that the Yankees have inquired about the 33-year old reliever, late of the Rakuten Golden Eagles, to help fill out their bullpen for the 2008 season. According to Newsday, the Yankees got into the bidding late, after teams like the Padres and Rays, and are now taking a look at Fukumori's medical records and DVDs of his mound work before proffering an offer.
The medical records are important, since Fukumori had elbow surgery which prematurely ended his season. The Rockies aren't pursuing Fukumori because of that but according to Alan Nero, the agent, he's been examined by several doctors and is throwing off the mound. Fukumori saved 21 games and was an All-Star in 2006 and has struck out a batter an inning over the past two seasons. He's also struggled with walks, though, and that's too reminiscent of past Yankee bullpen flops to make them feel too comfortable handing over late leads.
The Yankees balked at the contract demands of Luis Vizcaino, who declined arbitration, and are finding the other available bullpen options to be equally unpalatable. They need to acquire a reliable workhorse to set-up Mariano Rivera but Fukumori doesn't appear to be the answer.
No matter how you look at it, the Kei Igawa experiment has been a colossal disappointment. The Yankees paid $26 million just for the right to talk to him last winter, and then they poured another $20 million into a five-year contract. What did they get in return? A guy who posted a 6.25 ERA in 14 games (12 starts) who pitched more than five innings just five times.
But now, it turns out the Yankees' mistake in signing him will have long-term effects: it's one of the main reasons they haven't been able to pull the trigger on a deal for Johan Santana. Joel Sherman of the New York Post explains:
One big reason the Yanks could not comfortably use Ian Kennedy as a piece in the Santana trade discussions was because of the failure of Kei Igawa. The Yanks believed they were getting a legitimate back-of-the-rotation starter when they purchased Igawa for $46 million, between his posting fee and his salary. But he performed so poorly last year that the Yanks now are considering him for lefty relief. His inability to be a rotation fixture made Kennedy harder to part with.
That's right: a $46 million lefty reliever. Back in the day, George Steinbrenner used to eat expensive mistakes like that for breakfast (Sterling Hitchcock! Carl Pavano! Other guys I can't think of off-hand!); now, even the Yankees need a little time to recover from such blunders.
Roger Clemens may turn out to be the most expensive mistake in Yankees history -- or at least this side of Carl Pavano. Signed to be a workhorse pitcher and someone who can take the ball in must-win situations, he's instead proven to be awfully fragile and unavailable when the Yankees need him most. Today, with the Yankee still trailing the Red Sox by two games, the team announced that he's been scratched for the third time in four days due to a nagging hamstring, leaving the fate of the division in the hands of ... Kei Igawa?!
There's little doubt at this point that the Yankees will make the playoffs -- their magic number of wins and Detroit losses is down to just one right now. But still, they have a chance to clinch tonight and they're forced to go with Igawa, a guy who hasn't started a big-league game since late July?
Andy Pettitte and Chien-Ming Wang have established themselves as New York's top two pitchers, and to be honest Mike Mussina has redeemed his season by posting a 1.93 ERA in 23 1/3 innings for the month of September. Will Clemens be the No. 4 pitcher in the playoffs? I'm guessing that's not what the team had in mind when they gave him his prorated $28 million deal earlier this year.
The Padres were awarded the waiver claim to Igawa on Friday, and at that point, there were three possible resolutions -- the Yankees could have simply handed the pitcher (and what is left of his five-year, $20 million contract) to the Padres; the Padres and Yankees could have worked out a trade, which they talked about in July and continued to discuss over the weekend; or the Yankees had the option of withdrawing Igawa from waivers. The Yankees chose the latter option, in the hopes of rebuilding Igawa for the 2008 season.
Letting Igawa go to the Padres for nothing could have turned into an expensive mistake. Remember, the Yankees already invested $26 million into Igawa in the form of a posting free to his former Japanese club, the Hanshin Tigers. They're never going to get that back, and at the very least it's worth giving Igawa more than the 62 innings he's pitched this year to prove that he's worth his otherwise modest salary.
As for the Padres, well, they still need another arm to take over the fifth spot in their rotation. Wil Ledezma made a spot start on Friday and looked every bit like a pitcher who has bounced between three teams this year, giving up three runs and eight base-runners in just 2 1/3 innings.
Baltimore entered the offseason with exactly one rotation spot filled, so to say it needs pitching help would be an understatement of epic proportions. The Orioles signed journeyman Mark Hendrickson last week. Now they've erased another of the question marks after Jeremy Guthrie by agreeing to two-year deal with Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara, according to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun.
For a brief minute last week it seemed certain that 
Kei Igawa
The most reliable starter for the 2008 Yankees figured to be 
Now that baseball is back from its holiday break, the Hot Stove is back in business which means that it's time to check in on the Johan Santana discussions. There was a report over the weekend that Hank Steinbrenner, he of the deadline on a trade, said 
Apparently the rough translation to American baseball for 
No matter how you look at it, the 
The Yankees may not be very happy with 
