Sox targeting 2B

[Punch and Judy Garland]

I know the clubhouse was greatly displeased with his part in the ESPN sex/sports piece but that was a couple of years ago. They were mostly mad because he hadn't eanred his stripes yet before participating in the piece. That stuff is frowned upon (read Halberstam's books of 41 and 68 for insight into this type of thing).

[qwerty]

Japanese second baseman Tadahito Iguchi said he has received offers from several major league teams, including the White Sox. "I hear there have been several offers. The owner of the White Sox said he wants to meet with me," Iguchi said. If signed by the White Sox, Iguchi likely would replace Willie Harris at second base. Dec. 27 - 9:18 pm et

 

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getsp....b20041228a3.htm

[The Beast]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getsp....b20041228a3.htm

Me likey!!!

 

Come on JR, please, for once in your life just be fair!!!

[Guest JimH]

And now the interest is being reported on the main White Sox site:

 

http://whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/cws/new...s_cws&fext=.jsp

[EvilJester99]

Sweet maybe its closer than expected....

[Guest JimH]

Interesting note in the article, Williams is quoted as saying he's looking at "less than a handful" of possibilities to improve the club.

 

Which leads me to the conclusion, perhaps wrongly so, that the Sox want to add infield help and call it an offseason.

 

It would make sense they're talking to Iguchi as well as Alex Cora, Cairo, maybe another guy or two.

 

I wonder ... would they sign both Iguchi and Cora?

 

Hmmm ...

[HE GONE]

i hope this deal gets done soon. he seems like he can bring some energy to the team and a good fielding presence.

[Pods70Rowand33]

Thanks, I do remember that thing ESPN did about the guys in the clubhouse.

[Chisoxfn]

Interesting note in the article, Williams is quoted as saying he's looking at "less than a handful" of possibilities to improve the club.

 

Which leads me to the conclusion, perhaps wrongly so, that the Sox want to add infield help and call it an offseason.

 

It would make sense they're talking to Iguchi as well as Alex Cora, Cairo, maybe another guy or two.

 

I wonder ... would they sign both Iguchi and Cora?

 

Hmmm ...

I think you see an infielder brought in and thats it. Of course when you think about it, Cora, Cairo, Igutchi and Zaun may be the only guys left that the Sox would even consider. SO they could still fill two needs by targeting less than a handful of guys.

 

Thats 4 players and a handful is 5 ; Thats if you read Kenny exactly. Of that bunch maybe its worth taking a shot on Igutchi being worth it, especially from the PR standpoint.

 

I mean I think Willie can put up numbers similar to Cora although I like the idea of Cora as well.

[Rowand44]

Thats 4 players and a handful is 5 ;

Thanks Jas

[beck72]

I saw this from an early Dec. article talking about the Red sox interest in getting Iguchi:

 

---LaRocca credits winter ball in Mexico last year as giving him a good start in Japan. “I saw a lot of off-speed stuff in Mexico because they figure you can hit a fastball. So when I got over to Japan I was facing a lot of the same pitches.” ---

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The Sox sure can use a guy who can hit offspeed stuff. It would be a nice change of pace from the Jose Valentin '3 pitches and out' AB's.

[beck72]

I can see signing Iguchi to a $2.5--3 mill a yr deal; [his career numbers in Japan are more in line w/ So Taguchi's [who made $1 mill last yr] than either Kaz Matsui [$6.7 mill] or Hideki Matsui [$7 mill].

 

It sounds like he was completely healthy the last two yrs, where he hit .340/.438/.573 in 04 and .333/.399/.549 in 03. His career numbers in Japan of .277/.349/.471 are very low compared to his last 2 yrs. Iguchi is prob. trying to get a deal like Kaz Matsui's based on his last two yrs. Yet it isn't likely. Kaz had a career of .309/.361/.486 when he came to the US. Hideki had .304/.413/.582 when he came over. So Taguchi in Japan hit .277/.333/.387 for his career. He's hit in the US .290/.339/.440

 

Looking at Iguchi a little closer, if his defense is solid, his bat would be a good fit. He has more power than Kaz, less speed than him, though more SB's than Polanco, Cora or Cairo. Esp if Iguchi hits closer to his last 2 yrs, he should be able to hit .280+ with a solid OBP near .350. [i'm going on how both Matsui's did in the two yrs prior to coming to the US--and how they had some dropoff. Iguchi had better avg's than both Hideki and Kaz, higher OBP than KAz but lower than Hideki; and lower SLG than both] Interesting that KAz had SLG % of .617 in 02 and .549 in 03. Hideki had SLG of .617 in 01 and .692 in 02.

 

But I could see signing/ trading for a C, after getting someone for 2b and calling it an offseason [Yet if Vazquez's asking price drops they'd likely go after him]

[Sox1422]

I wouldn't get too excited about the Sox signing this guy.

 

They offered him 2 million per year and the guy is seeking over 6 million a year.

 

He'll probably sign for less, but not anywhere near the measly 2 million JR would give up.

[ChWRoCk2]

I wouldn't get too excited about the Sox signing this guy.

 

They offered him 2 million per year and the guy is seeking over 6 million a year.

 

He'll probably sign for less, but not anywhere near the measly 2 million JR would give up.

he seems like a decent ballplayer, and I wouldn't mind having him

[Pods70Rowand33]

I would like to see the signing, he would add a little more of the power type offense kind of like what Rowand is bringing...and we could have some good speed off the bench with willie

[shakes]

I wouldn't get too excited about the Sox signing this guy.

 

They offered him 2 million per year and the guy is seeking over 6 million a year.

 

He'll probably sign for less, but not anywhere near the measly 2 million JR would give up.

Funny, the article again mentions KW being 'under the radar'. He's so smooth.

 

At least we know greed exists in players outside the U.S. It's hard to really gage market value on players in Japan.

[Rex Kickass]

I wonder if this is a conscious effort on the part of the Sox to make themselves a brand beyond Chicago. With Mr. Zero and the addition of a second Japanese league player, is this an attempt to expand the fan base past the Pacific Coast?

 

And, is that a significant revenue stream for teams that already have that Japanese fan base - Yankees, Mariners?

[LDF]

I wonder if this is a conscious effort on the part of the Sox to make themselves a brand beyond Chicago. With Mr. Zero and the addition of a second Japanese league player, is this an attempt to expand the fan base past the Pacific Coast?

 

And, is that a significant revenue stream for teams that already have that Japanese fan base - Yankees, Mariners?

that would be a great addition and expanding the fan base as well a pipe line to the asian market for players.

[AddisonStSox]

And now the interest is being reported on the main White Sox site:

 

http://whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/cws/new...s_cws&fext=.jsp

Are they referring to Willie as an "infield void"? Oh my god, I love it.

 

I think you hit the nail right on the head Jim. Kenny wants to bring in this middle infielder and call in an off-season.

 

If he fills this "void," he would have addressed every team need this off-season. Rather Impressive.

 

-SP

-Leadoff

-Speed

-Bullpen

*Middle Infielder*

 

...and I suppose an arguement can be made for the catching position, but, we have to be realistic, Kenny can't bring in that many new faces with our budget.

[Punch and Judy Garland]

As far as the greed thing goes, in his defense it's not exactly a doable commute from Tokyo to the Cell. He might want a little something, you know, for the effort.

[CWSGuy406]

Funny, the article again mentions KW being 'under the radar'. He's so smooth.

 

At least we know greed exists in players outside the U.S. It's hard to really gage market value on players in Japan.

FWIW, a guy over at WSI who has either followed Iguchi's career carefully/lives in Japan said that Iguchi is exactly the player the Sox should be looking at (character wise). He said that Iguchi, while not playing baseball, is just your average 'Joe', very fan friendly, very promoting of his team.

 

If that is true, then Iguchi would definitely be a nice pickup for this team.

[Pods70Rowand33]

I really hope we can sign him, with the Red Sox falling out and the Yankees not in it, it looks good, i just wonder who else is in the running for him. I think he would be a very nice addition to the team.

[JUGGERNAUT]

Given that there is a large asian community just north of the ball park it always makes sense to hire asian stars. What's most impressive about the guy is his ability to steal bases. He won the SB title for that league in 2 of the last 3 yrs.

 

That gives the White Sox 3 reasonable leadoff options for 2005 if any should get injured or fail miserably: Pods, Iguchi, & Harris. That's good insurance to try & manage 15-16 wins a month (what you need to win a division).

 

But the $ is crazy. The CWS has offered 4M/2yr. I can see upping that to 6M/2yr & then offering as much as 6M/2yr in incentives (total 12M/2yr), but that's the limit.

You can offer incentives as such:

If he steals 30+ SB he gets 1M.

If he makes the All-Star team he gets 1M.

If he avg's 290+/150G played he gets 1 M.

 

I don't see him as a #2 though. I like Uribe in that spot preceding Thomas or Dye(when Thomas doesn't play). Uribe has good speed as well & with Thomas following him I think he'll score a lot of runs as well.

 

#1-Pods

#2-Uribe

#3-Thomas/Dye

#4-Koney

#5-Dye/Everett

#6-Iguchi

#7-Rowand

#8-Crede

#9-C

 

I like him in the 6th spot. Just ahead of Rowand. I think Dye-Iguchi-Rowand is perfect for the rookie with promise.

 

The CWS would still need a utility player so I hope Cairo would still be in their plans.

[beck72]

I wonder if this is a conscious effort on the part of the Sox to make themselves a brand beyond Chicago. With Mr. Zero and the addition of a second Japanese league player, is this an attempt to expand the fan base past the Pacific Coast?

 

And, is that a significant revenue stream for teams that already have that Japanese fan base - Yankees, Mariners?

With Chicago a big tourist magnet anyway, having extra tourists visit the cell for Sox games makes sense. Coming to see an everyday Japanese player, as well as a closer, may factor in

[nitetrain8601]

Given that there is a large asian community just north of the ball park it always makes sense to hire asian stars. What's most impressive about the guy is his ability to steal bases.  He won the SB title for that league in 2 of the last 3 yrs.

 

That gives the White Sox 3 reasonable leadoff options for 2005 if any should get injured or fail miserably: Pods, Iguchi, & Harris.  That's good insurance to try & manage 15-16 wins a month (what you need to win a division).

 

But the $ is crazy.  The CWS has offered 4M/2yr.  I can see upping that to 6M/2yr & then offering as much as 6M/2yr in incentives (total 12M/2yr), but that's the limit.

You can offer incentives as such:

If he steals 30+ SB he gets 1M.

If he makes the All-Star team he gets 1M.

If he avg's 290+/150G played he gets 1 M.

 

I don't see him as a #2 though.  I like Uribe in that spot preceding Thomas or Dye(when Thomas doesn't play).  Uribe has good speed as well & with Thomas following him I think he'll score a lot of runs as well.

 

#1-Pods

#2-Uribe

#3-Thomas/Dye

#4-Koney

#5-Dye/Everett

#6-Iguchi

#7-Rowand

#8-Crede

#9-C

 

I like him in the 6th spot.  Just ahead of Rowand.  I think Dye-Iguchi-Rowand is perfect for the rookie with promise.

 

The CWS would still need a utility player so I hope Cairo would still be in their plans.

I don't think Uribe fits in the #2 spot because he isn't consistant and that's what you need from a #2 hitter. A guy who could at least hit for a consistant good average. The Japenese guy supposedly is that, but I would keep Rowand in there because he's been a consistant .280 hitter(at least may become better) and plus he has decent speed and decent power.