UPDATE: Buster Olney gives the deal a 50/50 chance and says the deadline is 2pm Tuesday. The Yanks would target one of the Padres’ many fine relievers. As expected, the posting fee is a sunk cost and doesn’t factor in here.
The Padres were awarded a waiver claim on Kei Igawa today, a pitcher they pursued in the offseason. A healthy dose of a National League pitcher’s park may be just what Igawa needs. As Ken Rosenthal notes, all AL teams as well as clubs like the Dodgers, Rockies, Cardinals, Cubs, Phillies, and Braves passed on Igawa. I’m surprised the Mariners passed, also.
The Yankees and Padres now have 48 hours to work out a trade. The Yankees could just dump the contract on the Padres, but it’s really not that bad since the posting fee is a sunk cost. Igawa gets $4MM annually through 2011, which is really cheap if he can be even league average.
