Comments on: Was Kei Igawa a Better Signing than Dice-K?

By: Jamie

Jamie — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:58:56 +0000

Ha, I forgot about the $40 million for Gary Matthews! I told a friend about the crazy contract for him and he said, “Wait a second, who is Gary Matthews?” and I answered, “Exactly!”

By: williamnyy23

williamnyy23 — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:27:43 +0000

Your and dbilson’s are fair points, both of which are acknowledged in the post, but they ignore opportunity cost. In other words, even though the Yankees got nothing from Igawa, they still had over $56 million to invest. Stick with the investment analogies, if the Yankees were able to take those extra funds and return a loss of no greater than approximately 19.5%, they’d still come out with a greater return (smaller loss).

Also, determining a “bust” requires consideration of expectations. Considering many thought Dice-K would match or exceed the value of his contract, the deficit from expectations was much greater for Boston.

By: KeithK

KeithK — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:11:37 +0000

Yes, the Red Sox overpaid for Dice-K by a larger margin than the Yankees did for Igawa. That’s one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is by ratios. The Sox got a 40 cents on the dollar return on their investment. The Yankees got zero. By that metric Boston comes out way ahead.

By: dbilson

dbilson — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 23:00:42 +0000

The Red Sox lost 60 cents on their bond while the Yankees lost a hundred cents. That the Red Sox bought more bonds and lost more nominally speaks to the issue of what was the better investment? But in terms of “busts” there is no comparison as Igawa simply returned nothing.

By: The Yankee Clippings: 6/6/2011 | River Avenue Blues

The Yankee Clippings: 6/6/2011 | River Avenue Blues — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:31:51 +0000

[...] that Daisuke Matsuzaka needs Tommy John surgery, William at The Captain’s Blog wonders if Kei Igawa was a better investment than the uber-hyped [...]

By: Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO

Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 03:54:54 +0000

Daisuke was an incredible pitcher here early in his career. I’m not sure what happened in Boston…I’m convinced (with no actual research!) that Japanese pitchers’ excessive overuse when young really kills them in their late 20s..

By: Looking Back at the Expensive Free Agent Class of 2006 « The Captain's Blog

Looking Back at the Expensive Free Agent Class of 2006 « The Captain's Blog — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 20:45:33 +0000

[...] 4, 2011 by williamnyy23 Daisuke Matsuzaka’s decision to have season ending surgery prompted a post comparing his signing to the Yankees’ ill-fated acquisition of Kei Igawa. The conclusion reached was that both Japanese [...]