Sanspo is reporting that Yankees are making progress in trade discussions involving Kei Igawa. Sanspo is calling out the Tigers as the most interested party, but they may just be enjoying the fact that Igawa is a former Hanshin Tiger. Igawa was decent in AAA in 2008, but the $12m he is still owed over the next three years is the stumbling block for an acquiring team.
Igawa is not the Yanks' 40-man roster, and thus eligible for the rule 5 draft. Selecting him would require the acquiring team to keep him on their big league roster all year, or offer him back to New York (I think they'd probably let him go).
