Where Does Iguchi Go Now?

I kind of doubt the Mariners are very interested. At this point if they spend any more money they would want to spend it on pitching.

I could see the Yankees being interested still, despite the Womack signing, but not so much the BoSox, because Bellhorn is actually not so bad because he gets a lot of walks and works the count.

The White Sox still make the most sense to me, followed by the Yankees. With the remaining time dwindling, I think Iguchi will make a decision within the next week to ten days. He supposedly wants to make a decision by "mid-January." I don't think anyone is going to offer him a deal similar to the one Kaz Matsui got, so he will have to choose among the available offers, which probably will not exceed the White Sox offer by much.

(From Chicago Sun-Times, Jan 8)

"According to the White Sox, the team is much further apart in contract negotiations with Japanese infielder Tadahito Iguchi than the $350,000 reported by Kyodo News Service on Thursday.

"The Sox had offered $4 million over two seasons while Iguchi's side was looking for something close to three years, $21 million."

I saw an article critical of Richard Moss, Iguchi's agent, in the Japanese sports paper Daily Sports. The author thought that the White Sox offered good terms, but that they would be put off by Moss's ridiculously high demands.

On the other hand, he had praise for Yabu's agent Arn Tellem, who got him a job with the A's (Tellum also represents Hideki Matsui).

According to this article (Nikkan Sports in Japanese) Iguchi traveled to the US yesterday (January 15) "in top secrecy" to meet with representatives of the Yankees and Red Sox. The article says he will spend about 4 days in the US.

This article from The Chicago Sun Times states that Iguchi is asking for 3 years for 20 million. Wow, that is a little too much. Let the Yanks or Red Sox overpay for him.

The White Sox are continuing to show interest in Iguchi, though White Sox GM Ken Williams said the next step could be up to Iguchi and his agent Richard Moss. [Link - MLB.com]

There's no chance that the Red Sox are going to pay that much for Iguchi. First, it's not clear how well he'll do in MLB. Second (and more importantly), they already have Mark Bellhorn. Bellhorn costs very little for the amount of runs that he adds to the offense, and his defense isn't terrible. According to the way that the Red Sox evaluate players, Bellhorn is a tremendous bargain. According to Baseball Prospectus (who uses similar statistics to the Red Sox front office), Bellhorn was the second best offensive second baseman in the American League last year. That's the way the Red Sox see it, whether they are right or not (personally, I agree with the Sox perspective).

This move would make sense for the Yankees. They came into the off-season needing a second basemand and a center fielder. As of right now, they have found neither. The Yanks signed Tony Womack to play second, but he isn't a good answer at all. It's unknown if Iguchi will do well in MLB, but he's a much better solution than Tony Womack. However, money has finally become an issue for the Yankees. Their payroll is skyrocketing, and it seems that the owner has finally had enough.

Iguchi going to the Chicago White Sox makes the most sense. The White Sox need a second baseman (their second baseman last year, Juan Uribe, is moving to shortstop), and they would love to make a big splash in the free-agent market to steal headlines from the Chicago Cubs. From Iguchi's standpoint, it may not be so clear. The White Sox aren't a great team. But they are the most likely to give him the money he's asking for.

--Andrew

Though, as of right now it looks like the Red Sox are not a runner in the Iguchi sweepstakes, Boston seems set with Mark Bellhorn. The most likely destinations for Iguchi next year will be either the White Sox or the Yankees.

"But they are the most likely to give him the money he's asking for."

So far the White Sox haven't given the money Iguchi has seeked. Iguchi has asked for a 3 year/$21 million deal that was similar to the Mets' offer for K. Matsui, though so far the White Sox have only offered Iguchi a 2 year deal worth $4 million.

Why does Iguchi think he will get the same money as Kaz Matsui? He doesn't have nearly the hype, and compared to his production, Matsui was overpaid by a fair bit.

I don't understand why Iguchi thinks he can get that much money in the States. He will be lucky if he can get anything from the ChiSox. If not, he is coming back to Japan.

All these Japanese players are claiming that they will jump to MLB. The last time I checked 4 position players are currently playing in MLB (Kaz, Ichiro, Godzilla, and Taguchi). There are not many spots available in the MLB team roster, especially at the price that these players are seeking. Pitchers are a different story.

I wonder if Japanese players actually think we believe them when they say that want to make the next jump in their career. They want to show they can play in the Major Leagues. If Iguchi really wanted to prove he could play in the States, he would accept a deal from the ChiSox like Shinjo did. One year deal with an option and prove what you can do. Seems to me Iguchi just wants a big pay day!

- I wonder if Japanese players actually think we believe them when they say that want to make the next jump in their career. They want to show they can play in the Major Leagues.

Iguchi is a major-league quality second baseman, and definetly better than Willie Harris and many other second basemen. It seems to me that you are saying Iguchi will not have a major league quality season based on Kazuo Matsui's shortcomings, which is totally unfair. Kaz Matsui ended up with an average season. Yes, there are things he needs to work on in his second season, but he isn't the worse player in the world either, like many try to pin on him. It seems to me that you expect Iguchi to have shortcomings or be a below average player based on K. Matsui having shortcomings last year.

He better be better than MLB minimum pay Harris if he is asking for $7 million. Not every MLB team can afford million dollar players at each position like the Yankees. So Iguchi better take that $2 million offer for one year and prove that he is worth more money.

Frankly, both sides are using absurd numbers in the Iguchi-White Sox situation. The White Sox are in effect asking him to take a pay cut to come to the States, and Iguchi is asking for the kind of money he could never command in Japan (I doubt anyone would pay him Kazuo Matsui money there, either).

Jim Albright

I agree with the Shinjo comment. Take the best deal available to get your foot in the door. I know I wouldn't pay someone $21 million for 3 years when they haven't proven anything in the States yet. I am not saying Iguchi won't succeed, but c'mon, don't get too greedy before you even get here!

Vandelay: Is that speculation, or did you read somewhere that Iguchi will return to Japan?

That is not speculation. From what I've heard from Sox officials, if Iguchi doesn't get more then what he makes in Japan he will go back.

By the way, I'm not saying that I think Iguchi will have short comings. But you can never be too sure. I think he would be great at second base for the Sox. But he might have killed his chances of playing in the majors this year though. I mean, I think he will be an impact type player. Hypothetically though, if he ends up having a tough adjustment period and the Sox are paying $7 million a year for a guy who is battling Willie Harris for the starting job, that is not fair either.

According to Daily Sports [Link] (Japanese language), Iguchi's agent, Richard Moss, has made a new proposal (on 19 Jan, U.S. time) to the White Sox for 2 years at 3 million per year. No other (MLB) teams have shown any serious interest, according to the article. So it looks like it will be the White Sox if they can come to a compromise.

If there is nothing physically wrong with, and if Tadahito really wants to play in MLB, then he and his agent (Moss) need to at least reach a tenable agreement for the same or similar dollars as he made in NPB. Additionally, who says that Tadahito couldn't have incentive clauses in his contract with a sidebar gentlemen's agreement between him and the White Sox General Manager to re-negotiate after the first season? The Sox would a little foolish to not have the best defense up the middle that could have for a proper and respectful cost.

Why was Iguchi released by the Hawks? Iguchi is described by some as an impact player, and yet he is released. That does not make sense to an MLB fan.

- Why was Iguchi released by the Hawks?

Simply because Daiei management made an oral agreement with him that he could go to the Majors after this past season, and they kept their word. By releasing him, they gave him the greatest amount of freedom to make his own decision. If they'd have posted him, he wouldn't have a choice in the matter.

Is the idea that a ball club might show courtesy to a ball player, even to a net loss for the ball club, foreign to an MLB fan? Have things gotten so cynical that one cannot believe that a corporation would show any act of compassion to their employees?

Cynicism in the context of MLB? You betcha. MLB team owners do only what is best for them. "Best" means their financial bottom line.

Westbaystars,

One of the reasons that I, personally, am interested in NPB players is the sense that the culture they come from is somewhat more honorable than the MLB culture. That doesn't predispose the owners of NPB teams from wanting to maximize their "bottom line" similarly to their MLB "cousins," but I feel that the release of Tadahito was a direct result of the Hawks' management team being "honorable."

Iguchi should be a terrific player for the White Sox, and with a little luck, they should be prime contenders in the Central Division. Wouldn't it be nice if Shingo and Tadahito are prime movers for the White Sox grabbing the Central crown?

Daiei did a nice thing. Bravo. It is better than enslaving ballplayers for what, 9 or 10 years? Other NPB teams could show more enlightenment like Daiei. Nori getting "posted" is just like selling a slave their freedom.

Steinbrenner made no stink at all when Roger Clemens essentially broke his contract (and word) and came out of "retirement" to play in Houston. Accomodation trades are also made more than occasionally.

Not sure what to make of your "cynical" remark though.

When will this White Sox-Iguchi thing be resolved? Here in Chicago we know nothing except what we read here. The management of the White Sox says nothing and the local media says nothing as well.

Iguchi is a White Sock - just reported, he agreed to 2 years, 2.3 million per, with performance-related incentives built in.

Slightly less than he was getting, but who knows where the performance bar is set for the incentives?

I still want to know what's in his agent's water supply that he thought he could've gotten Iguchi a deal like Kaz Matsui.

Frank, I think that Scott Boras must be conducting seminars to the other "dumb" lawyers who are wanting to represent athletes. One thing though: There is nothing wrong in attempting to get the most money that one can for their client. The more money that an agent gets for his client, then the more he gets.

True enough, but when someone acts like Boras and you get a client like Nishi (who is a borderline MLB starter, IMO), nobody wants him because he's not good enough for them to put up with dealing with his agent (Boras). Also, when you go beyond the level of reasonableness, people will stay away from you. However, I wonder if we're getting an accurate story on what Iguchi was asking for - it would hardly be the first time sports writers got it wrong.

Jim Albright

You are misunderstanding about Nishi. It's not that no MLB teams wanted him, it's the Yomiuri Giants that prevented him from going to MLB. He has been one of the guys that were on the lists for the MLB scouts since around 2001. After the 2004 season, as you know, he declared for free agency. But the Giants pressured him to come to a conclusion as soon as possible by creating a deadline in mid-December.

Of course, it is not easy to go to MLB. Inaba, Nakamura, Iguchi, Igawa, Yabu, Uehara, and Denny have shown intersts in going to MLB, but Yabu is the only player that has officilally signed with a MLB team so far. Iguchi and Nakamura will follow soon.

Most of the Japanese teams try to secure the team before the year ends. In contrast, MLB teams would secure their teams during the spring training. Also in Japan, employees would show loyalty to his company (in this case Nishi showing loyalty to the Giants). Therefore, if the Giants put pressure on him, he would have to respond soon.

It's not Boras or Nishi's level of skill that prevented him from going to the MLB, but its the Giants and some cultural aspects that prevented him. Also there are clauses that try to prevent players from going to MLB, but not if not enough time for me to write everything.

He might have had Matsui performed as advertised last year.

I'm am really pumped for this guy and to see what he can do for us. I hear a lot of good things about him, and with his addition, all the MLB analysts are counting the White Sox as prime contenders in the AL now. On paper this is a great team, please god, let it be that good in the field.

I have a feeling Iguchi will be a pleasant surprise, too. He could end up winning a starting job, hit .270 and have his fair share of jacks and RBIs.

Not only do I think Iguchi will be a pleasant surprise, I think he will be a great surprise and find his way to Detriot come All-Star time. There are no more true All-Star second baseman in the American League except for Alfonso Soriano. I think we will hear Iguchi's name all year.

He doesn't have to worry about winning a starting job, he already has it. If he plays up to his abilities no doubt in my mind this team is in the playoffs. I can't wait to see what Iguchi and Scott Podsednik will do at the top of this ChiSox batting order. It is going to be one heck of a summer!

Maybe he will inspire the competitive juices of the other "new" Japanese second baseman, Kaz Matsui? Where the two rivals when they played in NPB?