November 15, 2006
Rays Look East
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays won the right to negotiate with Japanese third baseman Akinori Iwamura for a mere $4.5 million.
"One of the things we like about him is his position flexibility," Friedman said, adding that subsequent moves the Devil Rays make in free agency or via trades would impact what role Iwamura would fill.
The 27-year-old Iwamura was a five-time All-Star in eight seasons with the Yakult Swallows. A left-handed hitter, he batted .311 with 32 homers and 77 RBI in a career-high 145 games last season.
The Devil Rays have been interested in Iwamura since watching him in the World Baseball Classic last spring. In six games, he hit .389 and helped Japan win the inaugural WBC championship.
Kwamura's career OBA is .366, but he's been over .380 in four of the last five seasons. I'd guess his OBA would be about .340 in the majors, which for the Rays is pretty good.
Great to see the Rays management finally stepping up to the plate with some $$!. While BJ Upton has always held lots of promise, I don't see him being a long term answer for the Rays at third.
absolutely. Great move by the Rays. W/ the Yankess having Matsui and the Sox (hopefully) getting Matsuzaka, this should really increase their revenue.
I'm a bit confused as to how this is a great move by the Rays. They already have a lot of third base-second base talent that's ready for/already in the majors, and their outfield was already completely full. Iwamura won't put them over the top of anything and certainly has a lower upside than their prospects that are ready to play .
