Devil Rays Win Right to Negotiate with Iwamura
A day after the Boston Red Sox spent a reported $51 million for the right to negotiate with Japanese right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka (guess I’ll have to adjust the number of Lamboghinis), the Tampa Bay Devil Rays shelled out a paltry $4.5 million so they can talk to third baseman Akinori Iwamura.
A 27-year-old, left-handed hitter, Iwamura batted .311 with 32 homers for the Yakult Swallows in 2006. Over his eight-year career with the Swallows, he owns a .300 batting average and has knocked 188 home runs (including 30+ each of the past three seasons).
Attempting to translate stats from Japanese baseball to any kind of North American equivalent is a bit like trying to herd cats, but Jeff Sackmann at the Hardball Times gives it a shot. Sackmann actually presents several scenarios, and then — with colossal disclaimers attached — goes for something in the middle: .292/.348/.446. Such a performance would put him in line with what guys like Adrian Beltre, Mark DeRosa, Rafael Furcal, Luis Gonzalez, Geoff Jenkins, Kenji Johjima, Nick Markakis, Xavier Nady, Edgar Renteria, and Chad Tracy did in 2006.
How much is Iwamura worth? In the current market, probably quite a bit. DeRosa recently signed with the Cubs for 3 years, $13 million. He’s 31 years old and coming off a career year in a hitters’ park.
The one factor working against Iwamura is the posting process, which allows him to negotiate only with the Devil Rays. Beyond Aramis Ramirez and Aubrey Huff, he’s probably the best third base option out there right now. Give him the option to talk to all the teams, and he’s sitting pretty. As it is, he and his agent can still point to DeRosa and correctly note that he has six fewer homers over parts of nine big-league seasons than Iwamura hit in 2004 alone.
Any guesses? I’ll use Johjima as a guide, and go with 3 years, $18 million. What say you?
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POSTED IN: Global Baseball, Hot Stove
2 opinions for Devil Rays Win Right to Negotiate with Iwamura
Didi
Nov 17, 2006 at 5:57 pm
For that price, I wish the Padres had won the sweepstakes. I think he won’t get more than 3 years, $24 millions.
It’s interesting that the bid is not so outrageous, and that the Devil Rays won it. They must really be down on Cantu and Upton to play the infield.
Geoff Young
Nov 18, 2006 at 2:42 pm
Yeah, 3/$24M seems like about the high end to me. Not an unreasonable price, I think.
It will be interesting to see what the Devil Rays end up doing with Upton. This assumes, of course, that they have a clue, which may not be the case.
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