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He’s not really o-Kei

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I know it’s one inning on the first day of Spring Training. I know that pitchers use Spring Training to hone their pitchers and refine their mechanics. But here goes: Kei Igawa entered today’s Yankee game against the University of South Florida in the sixth inning of a game in which USF had manage just one base runner. Igawa gave up two walks, hit a batter, threw a wild pitch and surrendered a Grand Slam. Why the Yanks declined to trade him when they could, I have yet to understand.

Meanwhile, here’s the first boxscore of the season. Soak it up; it’s a good one. The Big Three went a combined five innings, allowing one hit and striking out six. Jorge wasted his one triple of the year on a Spring Training game against a college team, and A-Rod drove in three runs. Baseball is back.

If Igawa’s involved, the Twins’ demands are definitely changing

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The understatement of the Hot Stove League may be the headline on a La Velle E. Neal III article from Saturday. It asks, “Twins softening demands for Santana?”

Now, on the surface, that seems like a legitimate question to ask, but when you look at what Neal wrote, the answer is glaringly obviously yes.

For instance, indications earlier in the off-season were that the Twins wanted the Yankees to include righthanded pitching prospect Ian Kennedy in a package led by prized young righthander Phil Hughes and center fielder Melky Cabrera. Now it’s believed that the Twins are willing to accept other players instead of Kennedy. Recent reports have righthander Jeff Marquez as part of the deal.

Lefthander Kei Igawa, who floundered to a 2-3 record and 6.25 ERA in his first year after arriving from Japan, also has been mentioned in talks with the Yankees, perhaps as a fourth player in the package. His salary — $4 million annually over the next four seasons — shouldn’t be a problem for a club whose payroll would drop under $50 million if Santana is traded.

Any time you can get a team to drop its demands from Ian Kennedy to Kei Igawa, the demands are most definitely softening. While I still don’t want to see the Yanks shell out all of the prospects for one year of Santana, I would certainly get a good laugh out of things if Kei Igawa ends up being the missing fourth piece for the Twins.

If Bill Smith actually knew what he were doing, he would have laughed the Yankees out of the room when Kei Igawa’s name came up. Or he could said, “No way. No how. Not interested.” But if we’ve learned one thing this off-season, it’s that Bill Smith isn’t exactly the most confident of General Managers.

Olney: Igawa sticking around Scranton

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With the Yanks and Padres facing a 2 p.m. deadline to complete a deal, Buster Olney is reporting that the Yanks plan to withdraw the disappointing Kei Igawa from waivers. While most talent evaluators feel Igawa won’t succeed in the AL and is a better fit for a team like the Padres and a park like Petco, the Yanks aren’t quite yet ready to give up on a pitcher in which they invested $26 million in posting fees. I think the Yanks should just cut their losses, but so be it as long as Igawa doesn’t get starts next year over Ian Kennedy or Joba Chamberlain.

Padres working on deal for Igawa

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Kei Igawa, the most disappointing Yankee pitcher since Carl Pavano, may be donning the San Diego fatigues soon. According to numerous reports such as this one on ESPN.com, the Padres, who tried to acquire Igawa in July, have put a waiver claim on the lefty. The Yanks hope to acquire relief pitching for Igawa who is just 2-3 with an ERA a tad under 7.00. Let’s hope the Yanks can make this happen.

Update by Mike: I was just thinking…the Pads recently DFA’ed old friend Boomer Wells, would anyone be down with an Igawa-for-Boomer deal? If nothing else, it gives us a starter to cover Clemens’ start on Tuesday without having to finagle the 40-man roster or throw Jeff Karstens out there. Maybe he could even suck it up and serve as a lefty out of the ‘pen for the rest of the year. Random musings on my part…

Update by Ben: Joe and I were talking about Mike’s suggestion late last week when the Padres DFA’d Wells. Wells, we noted, is persona non grata in the Bronx following the 2003 World Series and comments Boomer made upon leaving New York. He’s not coming back. But he also wouldn’t be a bad influence on Hughes or Chamberlain as someone noted in the comments. If anything, Wells is a bit of a buffoon off the field but on the field, he’s always been a top competitor.

So long, Kei, and thanks for the memories

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We’re hearing word that Kei Igawa has been sent down to the 7th circle of Hell the Minors and Chris Basak is up.

If true – and I’ll post a link when we can confirm it – Basak is a short-term solution. He’ll be here filling a hole until the Yanks activate Phil Hughes next week.

No one in the Bronx will miss Kei Igawa.

Update: Newsday’s Kat O’Brien has visual confirmation that Kei and his interpretor were packing their bags today.

Update 2: The Star Ledger’s Ed Price has a great quote from the departing Igawa. “I’m going to continue hard at Triple-A,” he said.”Each time I pitch, I’m learning more about what it takes to become a consistent pitcher on this league.” I guess he’s a bit of a slow learner.

Kei Igawa sucks

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As tonight’s game came to a close, one of our popular search terms this evening was “Kei Igawa sucks.” And you know what, Google users? You’re absolutely right. Kei Igawa sucks.

Against the Royals tonight, Kei Igawa, obviously, ended up on the wrong end of a 7-0 game. Igawa threw 102 pitches in 5.2 innings en route to an ugly line of 5.2-7-5-5-2-5. After this game, he stands at 2-3, his last win coming in relief on April 28. He’s inexplicably thrown 68 Major League innings with terrible results. His ERA stands at 6.79, and he’s given up 80 hits and 34 walks. There’s no question that Tyler Clippard, now at AA, and Matt DeSalvo could have turned in 68 innings of better quality than Igawa.

After tonight’s start, it’s clear that Kei Igawa has no place in the Major League rotation. Phil Hughes is ready to go; Joba Chamberlain, who started the year at A ball, doesn’t seem too far behind; and on Saturday, we’ll see how far away Ian Kennedy is when he makes his first AAA start.

Yet, despite the obvious situation, some of you are rightly concerned that, with Phil Hughes making one last rehab start on Sunday, the Yankees will allow Kei Igawa to make another big league start. Worry not. The off day on Monday saves us from that debacle. Take a look:

Friday: Andy Pettitte
Saturday: Roger Clemens
Sunday: Chien-Ming Wang
Monday: Day Off
Tuesday: Another day in which I have to suffer through a Mike Mussina start at the Stadium
Wednesday: Andy Pettitte, on normal rest
Thursday: Roger Clemens, on normal rest
Friday: The Return of Phil Hughes Halleujah.

So there ya go. Phil Hughes will start on normal rest on Friday and no one, except for Kei Igawa, is worse off. Don’t let door hit you on the way out, Kei. Or on second thought, let it hit. Good bye.