Hanshin Tigers accept $25M bid for Igawa

[49ersJetsfan]

Hanshin Tigers accept $25M bid for Igawa. Team will be named in a few hours.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...bid/index.html

[Ven0m]

Ridiculous amount of money. I hope it's not the Mets....

[mudcat21]

Yankees are crazy bidding $25M for this guy.

[JeffWeaverFan]

Originally Posted by mudcat21

Yankees are crazy bidding $25M for this guy.

I'll repost what I posted on the Yankee board as to what I think the Yankee mindset was.

Lets look at the finances here and predict we sign Igawa for a 3/$18M deal.

With the luxury tax, that will be about 3/$27 plus the $25M so 3/$52M total spent on the guy.

Now, lets say that instead of doing this, they signed Ted Lilly to a 4/$38M deal. That is the equivalent, including the luxury tax, of about 4/$57M on Lilly (and the same with Meche).

If they went with Zito, it would cost about 6/$90M, but with luxury tax, it would cost 6/$135M.

So, lets say the Yankees view this guy, Igawa, as good as Lilly (but probably more durable). Lilly, per year, would cost a bit less if you include the luxury tax, but it would take an extra year. Plus, and perhaps most importantly, the Yankees will have Igawa under their control for 6 seasons, even if he is only signed to a 3 year deal. So, if he is good, the overall money will be much cheaper as we would keep him for 3 more seasons. If he is bad, then we wasted the money (how much money is "wasted" would depend on how bad he is).

In the end, the Yankees probably figured the extra couple million per season for Igawa was worth it given that if he is good, they will save more money and have him under their control for 6 seasons. Plus, if he is bad, they will only be stuck with him for 3 seasons, unlike Lilly or Meche, who they would be stuck with for 4 seasons.

JMO.

[LI2OH]

Originally Posted by JeffWeaverFan

..............Lets look at the finances here and predict we sign Igawa for a 3/$18M deal.

With the luxury tax, that will be about 3/$27 plus the $25M so 3/$52M total spent on the guy....................the Yankees will have Igawa under their control for 6 seasons, even if he is only signed to a 3 year deal.

can you explain that?

How do they have him under their control for 6 seasons if they only sign him for 3?

[BrooklynBound]

kinda weird the Yanks bid only 6 mil less for Igawa than D-Mat

[JeffWeaverFan]

Originally Posted by LI2OH

can you explain that?

How do they have him under their control for 6 seasons if they only sign him for 3?

Under MLB rules, he is a rookie - meaning he is under contract with the team that signs him for 6 years - with the last 3 (if he is signed to a 3 year deal) him being arbitration eligible.

Now, when big time players come over, agents get clauses in the contract that the player can opt out after the original contract is over unless he agrees to an extension. This is what Arn Tellem did for Hideki Matsui. This is what Scott Boras will do for Daisuke Matsuzaka. I'm pretty sure that Kaz Matsui got the same clause in his contract.

With a player like Igawa, who is not a big time player, it is my belief that he will not get this clause in his contract. Of course, I could be wrong.

[JeffWeaverFan]

Originally Posted by BrooklynBound

kinda weird the Yanks bid only 6 mil less for Igawa than D-Mat

I think the Yankees underestimated the market for Matsuzaka and then, realizing the market was like this, made the appropriate bid to win for Igawa.

It seems the Mets, though, decided the correct amount to bid. They valued Matsuzaka as a #2 or #1 starter, and bid $40M on him. They valued Igawa as a #4 starter and bid $15-$19M on him. Seems to make more sense than what the Yankees did, but they obviously decided they did not want to lose this bidding.