Apparently the rough translation to American baseball for Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa hasn't soured the New York Yankees on Japanese pitchers. The agent for Kazuo Fukumori says that the Yankees have inquired about the 33-year old reliever, late of the Rakuten Golden Eagles, to help fill out their bullpen for the 2008 season. According to Newsday, the Yankees got into the bidding late, after teams like the Padres and Rays, and are now taking a look at Fukumori's medical records and DVDs of his mound work before proffering an offer. The medical records are important, since Fukumori had elbow surgery which prematurely ended his season. The Rockies aren't pursuing Fukumori because of that but according to Alan Nero, the agent, he's been examined by several doctors and is throwing off the mound. Fukumori saved 21 games and was an All-Star in 2006 and has struck out a batter an inning over the past two seasons. He's also struggled with walks, though, and that's too reminiscent of past Yankee bullpen flops to make them feel too comfortable handing over late leads.
The Yankees balked at the contract demands of Luis Vizcaino, who declined arbitration, and are finding the other available bullpen options to be equally unpalatable. They need to acquire a reliable workhorse to set-up Mariano Rivera but Fukumori doesn't appear to be the answer.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-08-2007 @ 4:56PM
numba1stunna74x said...
YANKEEES COULD OF GRABBED ERIC GAGNE AND WHAT ABOUT MUSSINA FOR LONG RELIEF?? VIZCAINO SUX ANYWAY..HE HAD A HIGH 4 ERA LAST SEASON AND SUCKED IN THE PLAYOFFS TOO..GRAB GAGNE AND HELP HIM WITH HIS DAM CONFIDENCE LEVEL..IF U CAN MAKE HIM CONFIDENTHE WILL ONCE AGAIN BE UNHITTABLE
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12-08-2007 @ 10:16PM
A Base Ball Fan said...
Gagne tanked in the spotlight in Boston...so with a bigger audience, more critics, more reporters, more scrunity he should come to NY!? NY has enough pitchers on the payroll who can't deliver uhmm...Pavano, Igawa,h*ll even Farnsworth for starters...I can go on....Keep looking NY!
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12-09-2007 @ 9:58AM
Jim said...
That's Right NEW YORK KEEP LOOKING! Sons are doing very good this winter.
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12-09-2007 @ 3:55PM
yankeefan99 said...
If you are going to spend all that money each year on players, the least you can do is get some pitchers that are not as old as my grandma. Outside of the young guns and Pettitte what pitchers to you have. I mean seriously having Mussina as your closer, they all know what he is gonna throw before he does. Invest your money wisely and get us some new pitchers. Honestly if we want a world series appearance we need more pitching than what we have!
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12-09-2007 @ 4:18PM
a said...
Exactly. Yankees need more (starting)pitching-- not more offense-- if they want to advance in October. I am not a Yankee fan-- but for the life of me, I cannot figure why Cashman (who attains the players) is still there-- and Torre (who can only play what he has available) is not. Given that this may be the most intense market to play in going with three rookies (as starters) is simply not very smart. I'm not convinced the Yankees are no longer players for Santana (remember the ARod comments?) but Santana would have taken the Yankees farther in October than will ARod. And now there's talk of extending Cashman....
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12-09-2007 @ 8:38PM
Willard said...
What is the staus of Carl Pavano?? If he can pitch and not under contract, why nota cheap 1 yr deal and use him in the bullpen? Crazy but it might work
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12-09-2007 @ 9:11PM
Stan said...
No more Far East players on Yankees.
Fire Cashman and both Steinbrenners sons.
Mussina...retire.Matsui...get lost
Giambi....its over.Do the right thing now that youve ruined yourself.You arent what they paid for.
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12-10-2007 @ 1:28AM
Jay Anderson said...
Pavano's out for 2008 and his Yankee "career" is over.
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12-10-2007 @ 5:15AM
Rodney said...
I've been a Yankee fan for over 33 years, and it's
about time that the Yankees looked to their youth!
I like what I see, Hughes, Joba, and Kennedy, are
young and healthy with above average arms, under the right tutelage they will become some of the best in the league. I personally am willing to go with the youth, Johan would be a nice addition; but not at the price they want! Let's go Yanks!
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12-10-2007 @ 9:00AM
Joe said...
Too many teams have given up young talent much too early in their careers. Many of those young players have gone on to become superstars. The yankees have three very good young pitchers who have the ability to go on and become great assets to the team. Remember what the Mets lost when they gave up Nolan Ryan. Yankees, don't make the same mistake
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12-10-2007 @ 10:15AM
Robert said...
What about Pavano? Oh, yeah, I forgot...
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12-11-2007 @ 9:24AM
Marty said...
the Yankees need to rethink their pitching coaches, Gator was an awesome pitcher, but the best pitching coaches in the league are either in Minnesota or Detroit. Minnesotta created the monster pitcher Santana is, the Yankees picked up several pitchers in the passed ten years from Minnesota, all became busts, because the coaches here need a better concept. You want great pitchers, get the coaches who make them.
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12-10-2007 @ 9:22PM
John said...
Pavano had Tommy John surgery and was released by the Diamondbacks. He was resigned to a minor league contract by the Yanks and will start the season in rehab (now theres a change) with the hope that he can contribute a least something.
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12-11-2007 @ 2:00PM
Mike said...
Pavano with the Diamondbacks??? John has been smoking the wacky tobacky. If he was out of the Yankee organization, anyone resigning him should be flogged. But, he was never a Diamondback
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12-11-2007 @ 4:17PM
STEVE said...
yanks will be just fine. they and the redsox will always fight for the pennant. yankees will get SANTANA
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12-11-2007 @ 5:29PM
John said...
When will the Yankees learn ? Probably never ! They pay for pitchers nobody else is that stupid to do and chisel their own in-house farm grown pitchers the minimum. Chien Man Wang, Joba, Ian and Phil deserve the millions they throw at bums and only get paid the minimum major league salary.
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12-11-2007 @ 11:52PM
charlie said...
one thing about the yankees you never know what there going to do next............ so look out everyone. cause here come the yankees.
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12-12-2007 @ 2:03AM
DonR said...
Joba is perfect setup man for Rivera.
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12-12-2007 @ 6:19AM
DB said...
The Yankees are in dire need of more starters, and looking at some of the hairbrained deals over the years.....Kevin puke the big game Brown, Pavano, Hideki Irobu, and lets not forget the aquisition of Mr April thru September Rodriguez, I can' believe they let go of Alfonzo Soriano for the likes of a player that is beond any shadow of a doubt the most over payed in the history of the game. With all the money that they have, why didn't they go after Josh Beckett when he was available. They needed to let Torre go, Torre hasn't been managing that team for years. Remember, Torre was being payed top dollar $7M/yr, and not producing in the playoffs. There is no argument for Torre, after watching the playoffs for the past several years, seeing them loose to the Marlins a few years back, going against a pitcher that comes back on two days rest (Beckett) and going into the 8th inning with a 70 pitch count, not making his hitters work the pitchers. Thats fundimental baseball. Thats exactly how they lost every playoff series since they lost to the Diamondbacks in 01. Only the manager should be held accountable for that. Yeah, Cashmen hasn't been able to produce many good deals lately, but Torre really needed to go. He'll probably do good out in LA, they don't have anywhere near the pressure of NY. Please go after Santana, but keep the young guys too. Remember, good pitching beat good hitting every single time.
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12-13-2007 @ 4:20PM
Anthony said...
Please, if you want to go after pitching keep your prospects in the young guys like Joba, Kennedy, and Hughes but go after guys in mid to upper 20s and stop resigning the 35+ year olds. They aren't getting you anywhere and the deals that you give them could be spent on 2 more starters and maybe 2 or 3 more relievers. You are letting the good deals go so that you can go after guys that you know will come back, so please take your time and put your minds into your deals. If you have to let go of some minor league prospects like the Tigers did its ok you still have all the major league prospects that you need. Just take what you can get and rebuild during next year to see what you can improve on right now! It makes sense that you want hitting but thats not our problem right now its our pitching we can score about 7+ runs a game but it doesn't help if you give up 7+ runs in a game!
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