Dec

8

Add Two More to the List

Posted by M. Patel under News, Rumors, Speculation 

You can add two more to the list of possible pitchers coming to the Yankees. The Yanks have shown interest for Japanese reliever Kazuo Fukumori and Orioles starter Erik Bedard.

We’ll being with Fukumori who is a 33 year old free agent. He missed a lot of last season due to an injury, but examination by doctors has showed that he should be fine. He has also shown that he can easily throw 100 pitches. There are several teams interested in Fukumori and many consider the Yanks to be late, but everyone knows that you can never count us out. One thing that might eventually break a possible deal is the fact that the Fukumori wants a two year deal. The Yankees are reluctant to give any relievers which they pick up from free agency more than one year due to relief disappointments in recent history (Farnsworth, Quantrill, etc.)

Erik BedardEven with that possible deal breaker I think it is more likely that the Yanks get the Japanese reliever than Erik Bedard (although I would much rather prefer Bedard). Why? Because Orioles owner Peter Angelos has said that he will not trade 28 year old Bedard within their division, the AL East. The Yanks and Red Sox are still both interested and will probably try to pursue him (where have we seen that before?). Whether Angelos will change his mind, only time will tell.

Bedard would be a great addition to the Yanks, especially if he can put up numbers like he did last season. He was 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA and 221 strikeouts in 182 innings pitched. I certainly hope we can snag him, but thinking realistically I don’t see him or Fukumori coming over.

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