NPB Tracker

The market for Ryota Igarashi is showing it’s first signs of life. Sanspo has quotes from a couple of key figures…

• Pirates GM Neil Huntington: “In acquiring(Akinori) Iwamura, we opened the door to getting Japanese players. We gave up a middle reliever to get Iwamura, so he [Igarashi] is a player we have interest in.”
• Giants GM Brian Sabean: “It’s not our top priority, but he’s a player we’re looking into.”
• Agent Arn Tellem: “There is high interest for stoppers in the majors. He’s a player that a lot of teams should show interest in, and we expect good results from him.”

Clearly a little agent-speak there at the end. As a side note, Igarashi and Iwamura played together with Yakult in Japan.