Iwamura 'interested' in talking long term

"Great organization" and long-term contract??? This dude clearly has no clue what he's getting himself into.

Maybe he knows something that we don't

He said Playoff.

Next year.

God bless him for trying.

Wait... maybe he DIDN'T say playoff. Maybe the INTERPRETOR said playoff. Maybe he really said "how can life have turned so sharply in this direction?"

Pew, I'd rather have Freddy Sanchez back for the money the Pirates gave Iwamura. I think the team should have waited in this economic climate, how much better is Iwamura than someone llke Adam Kennedy. Kennedy couldn't find a job, got nothing money wise, and then went out and kicked butt for the A's. I just don't know why the Pirates go after the best low-level players at top prices (see Ramon Vazquez) rather than putting that kind of cash into long-term deals with their own young talent.

I was thinking the same thing, PoH. I'm sure the translator put a "generous" spin on his comments. The big question, though, is how do you translate "Welcome to Hell" in Japanese?

Hopefully Iwamura can make an impact like Hiroshi "Kamikaze" Tanaka had on the Indians in Major League II. Perhaps he can tell Matt Capps that he has no "marbles".

I guess Andy La Roach going to 2nd base when Alvarez comes up is not going to happen.  

The Pirates needed a David Eckstein type player with pop.  Any player that tackles Arod or Youklis is a player in my book.

Not to change the subject, but wouldn't it be great if the Phils pulled a Boston on the Yanks and went back and beat 'em 2 in a row?  Alex would have to go crying home to Kate Hudson . . . after picking up his last check of the season. Boy, some people just don't have a downside.

Iwamura--welcome, you are going to be well-received here and will like it here for however long your stay is.  Pittsburghers like deeefeense.

Jim bibby

You should go back two threads (i think) lot of stats posted by several that Freddy and Iwamura are almost identical offensive players.

Sausage Simon--I'm sure Jason Kendall can say it in multiple languages.

Sounds like a scene from Mr. Baseball...the player says one thing, but the translator says something entirely different. :-)

Hey, I wonder if the group in Pittsburgh can meet him in the airport?? with a banner..  

That would be really cool.

NuHo is not going to get much work done tomorrow.---------

 Moderator-Please set Hostage Sarcasm Filter at 100% and have overload generator ready to boot up as needed.I doubt I want to be hear,but who knows?

wow, Dejan, three threads while you're on vacation.

now youre just showing off.

BTW...what  are the posters who said"who would want to play here" going to say now?There were even some who intimated it would be next to impossible to sign anyone long term.Hmmm

another good thing about this trade is that i do not think anyone will be able to argue this trade is a salary dump :)

the family dog's name is "Nuts."

 Maybe we could have new poster called--Nuts Hostage :-)

ok, been a long day.

Peace out.

JAL - good point, definitely not a salary dump.  

I, personally, think this was a much need move on our part.  2B was a GLARING hole.  In a week or so, 4-6 teams would have been pursuing AI and we'd have stood NO chance at getting him.  

So we gave up a young, power arm with a few years of control for a (potential) one-year rental?  All I hear on here is all we have are young, power arms, why so many power arms, etc.  

I also think of it this way...end of next July, we will not have many trade chips, as we're not going to trade prospects, I don't believe.  If AI plays well, he could very easily be a trade chip with LaRoche moving over to 2B full-time.

Nothing wrong with this move, in my opinion.  

Leadoff had a good point, as well, i thought.  This is just like trading Chavez for Alderson.  Makes sense to me, at least.

chavez was a favorite of mine and I think a potential set-up man or closer to fall in behind capps 2010. he pitched well last year with both spectacular success and a few lapses. nothing against iwamura, but I think we gave too much, and paid too much for something we could have had cheaper down the line. DY is toast, andy is toast when pedro comes up, and we lost another quality pitcher. no joy in mudville here. chavez and freddy for about the same price? no contest.

I will withhold judging the total trade until I see who the other player coming to the Pirates. That said, Iwamura is a 30-something, injury risk going forward. I remember when he came over to the states he had homerun power potential that never developed. He's not bad, it's just that I think there will be better deals out there. It's funny (sad?) now that the Pirates reportedly turned down trade offers last offseason for Jeff Niemann -- holding out for a Wade Davis trade that never happened --  only to see Niemann provide the best pitching for Tampa Bay in a possible rookie of the year performance. For the record, I am glad the Pirates don't have Freddy Sanchez back, I was comparing the two players somewhat equally without holding either in high regard at their respective career stages.

JimBibby - there is no other player or cash. Iwwy for Chavey straight up.

Last year at this time and even before this time I gave my opinion if the team was going to torn own to keep them together up the middle to last out.  They pretty much did that.

So, it only makes like logic to me that we needed to put the team together up the middle as our prioity.  They pretty much just did that.

Mr. Young in the tems opinion did not make the move to everyday player,  DMAC has repeatedly opined that MR. Young was not our everyday second baseman for next year.

Lets put aside the players:

www.youtube.com/watch

we traded a relief player for an everyday player.  Every GM in the league makes the trade.

Seems we are the ones on the upper table in a salary dump move this time.

opinions have ranged from he is hrt and will never get back to as Arriba says wait to you see him play.

Nice work Jesse, best of all to you, you were the wifes flavorite player.

Second base was the number one move that had to be made.

If he is as good for us as Arriba says he can be, this will be a sweet deal.

I am of the opinion to this deal as of tonight the same I was with the Morgan move.  I liked Mr. Morgan but WSB right off the bat says, jersey wait to see Blastings play and I did and I think he was right.

If Arriba is just as right, we have improved the team again.

To have the hole sewed up before the WS is over puts us at an advantage looking at other off season improvements.

You hate to see good guys go, but sometimes they must.

Just like I said earlier today before this hit the wire services, if we get a solisecondbaseman to play on the other side of Andy it will make the play of my sha rona better.

The infield already looks stable.

I have also reported that FC did say about holding no one back.  At the times he said that I am thinking, OK, no way does Pedro make the jump from AA, I mean he would have to bat about .420 and hit 30 600 footers out ion the first week of ST to convince he he is ready to make the jump that quick.

POH: Are you sure there's no other player? I thought I'd read otherwise. I figured that was the reason the Pirates are absorbing his $4 million-plus salary. If that's the case, then the deal is obviously even worse than I thought. Why would the Pirates jump this early in the offseason for a player who figured to be non-tendered? It's not like he's a sleeper or has upside that hasn't already been meted out. I don't see the diff between Iwamura and someone like Adam Kennedy. In fact, I'm having a hard time seeing any positives. Can someone help me out here?'

Hmmm.  20007- Rays third baseman.  Prior to 2008, had only played 1 game at second base.  Spent 07-08 offseason working on second base skills with elite infield coach in Japan. Converted to second base in 2008 full time.  Injured in 2009.  Was this trade made in the Twilight Zone?

I agree middle is important with our ground ball based pitching staff. we may be set for the middle, but I am not sure we are set with what we need. cedeno is a range liability, and iwwy is 30+ and has a bad peg- how have we helped the middle? better than DY and cedeno? sure. better than jack+freddy defensively? no way. bats are hopefully no worse than jack+freddy, but I am not that optimistic about that either. not a breakthrough trade, not the help we could really need. this is a temporary patch for a year or two that cost us a potentially good reliever for five? I don't see it. I do think any littlefield people should beware- you are very expendable.

Did I really read the earlier posts correctly:  people trying to interpret what the interpreter (translator) really meant / said.

Didn't we learn our lesson with Perry Hill?!

@ Arriba et. al.

To answer a question from an earlier thread about "reasonable change the Pirates will have a 2nd baseman prospect to take over in 2011."

These guys are all possible by 2011. It would not surprise me if one of them made significant strides next year and could take over in 2011 though admittedly, any one of them would most likely below average that first year.

Jim Negrych

Shelby Ford

Chase D'Arnaud

Jordy Mercer

Is it possible the Pirates will try Neil Walker at 2nd next year at Indianapolis? If not, I think he is a good candidate to get traded.

Some of my thoughts on info that was in another write-up about the trade

Chavez, 26, was the final player added to the Pirates' roster last season at the end of spring training.   ( I forgot about that)

"My knee is still not 100 percent," Iwamura admitted. " (he said he'll be fine, but we'll see)

"It's tough to give up a guy like Jesse Chavez," Huntington said. "But it is easier to fill 60 innings out of the bullpen than it is to fill 600 quality plate appearances." ( I agree and like their thinking on that)

Huntington said the Pirates did not examine Iwamura before making the trade, but are "very confident" his knee is healthy, based on reports from three of their scouts who saw Iwamura play in September.  (worries me a little)

Given the hole at 2nd has been filed for next year, I would expect Walker or LaRoche to be traded before next season starts - unless the Pirates seriously decide to move one of them to 2nd for 2011.

I like the fact that the Pirates were looking ahead and scouting him in September. I wonder what other 2nd basemen then scouted.

CA--no offense, but "possible" and "reasonable chance" are very different descriptions to me.  But you wouldn't be the first person I annoyed with word choice comments. Any one of the ones you listed would have to make a quantum leap next year to be considered in 2011.  Certainly all are long shots.

Speaking of Perry Hill, I was wondering if he was in Japan when Iwwy reportedly went back to Japan to become a second baseman?  If I remember in the AM I will post a couple of more comments about the DK interview by Mark Madden.  He had a lot to say about Hill, and it was supportive of Hill.

TC--I'm not trying to be difficult, but the fact Chavez was the last guy chosen last year was mentioned several times and my reaction is the same each time--how is that in any way relevant to evaluating this trade?  He was on the MLB team all year, he was one of the bright spots in a weak bullpen, he wasn't sent down.  He throws 96 miles per hour. I'm not raising this to diss the trade, but in evaluating it we should stick to relevant factors.  Like, as you earlier pointed out, he was part of the shrine. ;-)

While there's always the claim that we overvalue our own players, it seems to me there is at least an equal number who want to devalue the player we trade (I am not directing that at you, just in general).  Chavez can be a good relief pitcher and it can still be a good trade.

I do not understand why Negrych's name comes up.The guy has no power.In 4 seasons he has 12 HRs.(1282 ABs).His arm is terrible and so is his glove.(2008 he had 31 errors and in 2009 in 85 games he had 16 errors.So in in 190 games he had 47 errors).He is not fast.He'll be 25 in March and will still be in AA.He'd be lucky to be in AAA by 2011- or 2012.Bad glove,no power,slow and 25 and in AA.

 Shelby Ford is in AA too.He hit .188 in AAA was demoted to AA and hit .233.He has 18 HRs in 3 seasons.He is 25 and in AA.

  I'd bet Chase D'Arnaud or Mercer before either Ford or Negrych.

 Mercer just turned 23 and hit .255 and had 10 HRs and 83 RBI. Chase D'Arnaud is 22 and had 7 HRs and 57 RBI.Heck  Jose De Los Santos is 24 and hit .247 for high A,but had 53 SBs (VERY FAST)and only had 16 errors in 117 games.Any of those 3 is a better bet than Ford/Negrych