Yanks win Igawa rights with $26M bid

[Steelersfan]

Yankees and Red Sox in bidding wars once again. These two teams are paying 10's of millions of dollars just to have the right to negotiate with these players. That is just nuts! Now they will have to pay even more if the get a deal done!

NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees got a chance to sign a Japanese pitcher on their second try this offseason, winning the rights Tuesday to Kei Igawa after losing out to the Boston Red Sox two weeks ago for Daisuke Matsuzaka.
New York's offer of $26,000,194 -- the last three digits matching his strikeout total this year -- was the highest bid among major league teams for Igawa, and it was accepted Tuesday by his Japanese team, the Hanshin Tigers.
"The Yankees are a team with a lot of tradition," Igawa said at a news conference in Osaka. "They get a lot of media attention, like the Tigers do. I was surprised to hear the team bid that much for me, and I feel like today I've taken another step toward realizing my dream."
The Yankees' winning bid was first reported by ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2678036

[AZ_Steeler]

Baseball is getting to be ridiculous! I hate the amount of money that flies around and now teams are bidding just to NEGOTIATE!!! Stupid, stupid stupid!!! I want a salary cap!!!

[SteelersfaninPhilly]

Let the yanks spend. Watch for another early playoff exit from the yankees.

[Steelersfan]

They have a so called soft cap. But for teams with money they just end up paying a tax. Revenue sharing is the biggest problem with MLB. You have 6-8 teams that can spend a ton of money while all the others are just farm teams to them. They draft a player and once that player reaches a certain level the other teams just outbid them. It is sad and is only going to hurt baseball in the long run.

[House of Steel]

Now you wonder why I hate Baseball right now. Markets like Cleveland, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philly, Tampa Bay and so on will never be able to afford the players neogiation rights that the Yankees and the Red Soxs put up. Why can't Bud Selig do something about this and put a darn salary cap on these teams to make baseball even across the board? He is killing MLB. Darn if I was commissioner that would be my first priority. Salary Cap to make things evenly competitive for the smaller markets. This is insane and the biggest reason why I hate that sport. Mark McGuire heading to Cooperstown is going to be a cancer in my opinion. PETE ROSE DESERVES TO BE IN COOPERSTOWN, least he didn't bulk himself up with steroid inducing powders or shots or what not.