he had an high ERA 4 years ago, where he was 22, you would think that the reason for the high ERA is just that he was just maturing as a pitcher, as for that year in 2002, he was hit by a line drive, not pitching related
He was between the ages of 20-22 in those three "high" ERA years. It's easy to nit-pick, but the bottom line is he has tremendous stuff and has had great success.
So I am hearing we may know the winner of the Matsuzaka sweepstakes before I go to bed tonight about 2 AM west coast time. As for this other Japanese fellow Akinori Iwamura I believe his name is rumor has it the Padres are going to try to sign him and move him to 2nd base to replace Barfield. Another opton is Marcus Giles.
3:30 AM in the East and as of yet nothing on Matsuzaka but it has been reported now that another Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa will be available to MLB team as well. Igawa pitches for the Hanshin Tigers and is likely to be a #2 in the majors. It is expected that the Dodgers, Royals , Mariners , Indians and Braves will bid for the lefty. His best season was in 2003 when he went 20-5 with a 2.80 ERA and 187 Ks. Igawa's nickname is Iron Nerves
08:27 AM - Buzz: Texas Made Big Bid for Matsuzaka ...posted by Matthew Cerrone... An anonymous baseball official has told the Star-Telegram that the Texas Rangers made a major bid to negotiate with RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Star Telegram is reporting that the Rangers may have submitted the winning bid. They cite sources with knowledge of the process. It's the first time any "major" media outlet has claimed any awareness of the results. If it is true, Hicks has scored a major win for his club to open the offseason, and has put himself in the mix for the division title for years to come. I don't know how Matsuzaka will like Texas, but I suppose you'll have to ask Akinori Otsuka how he fit in in the Lone Star State last year. Pretty well I think...... UPDATE: It's been more than an hour since this story went up on-line. To this point, no Japanese news outlet, and no other US news organization has commented, confirmed, refuted, or mentioned the story from Texas. Maybe the speculation is also WAY bigger in Texas....
Astros | Biggio to return in 2007; deal announced Friday Thu, 9 Nov 2006 23:21:23 -0800 The Houston Chronicle's Brian McTaggart is reporting the Houston Astros will hold a news conference Nov. 10 to announce a one-year contract agreement with 2B Craig Biggio worth slightly more than $5 million, according to Major League Baseball officials.
Cubs | More on Miller's signing Thu, 9 Nov 2006 23:06:21 -0800 Updating a previous item, The Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan reports Chicago Cubs SP Wade Miller agreed to a one-year, $1.5 million contract on Nov. 9 and will compete for a job at the back end of the rotation. If Miller makes the rotation and meets all of his incentives, he could earn more than $5.25 million, though only the $1.5 million is guaranteed.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2656687 That's the third team since 9 AM this morning that has been rumored to have won the bidding. I think we'll just have to wait and see. If this is true, I doubt Seibu would have waited all this time to accept (unless MLB is checking into the fact that Boston may be posting such a high number only to block someone.)
Why would the Red Sox do that? They want to win and if he doesn't sign with them now he'll be a Yankee next offseason when he is a FA. It's not like it's the Royals or Devil Rays. I would also think if he bid was made with the intent to block anoher team Selig likely would not have sent it.
I agree, which is why the rumor seems false, because Seibu (a team desperately in need of money) would have accepted an incredibly high bid like this ASAP.
From what I read Seibu cannot accept anything without a meeting of their board of directors, and that wasn't going to happen until today at the earliest.
Reds sign Belly Full of Guts. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AkuBLr4TyVTSiDa304fqzTMW0bYF?slug=redscrosby&prov=st&type=lgns
We just paid him a $3m buyout of his last deal, we need to hang on to him in the hope we get some value from the new one. He'll be a reliever but not a closer apparently. Ecstatic about the Ramirez deal.
