NEW YORK -- Mindful of what happened with Ichiro Suzuki,
the Los Angeles Dodgers weren't about to let anyone outbid them for
Kazuhisa Ishii.
The Dodgers won the rights to the Japanese pitcher on Wednesday,
and believe the 28-year-old left-hander will be part of their
starting rotation this season.
After watching Suzuki lead the Mariners to a record-setting
season, the Dodgers won the rights to Ishii when their bid of
$11,264,055 was accepted by the Yakult Swallows, the pitcher's team
in Japan's Central League.
"Obviously we're very excited to get him," Los Angeles manager
Jim Tracy said at Dodger Stadium during the team's first winter
workout. "He comes to the United States in my mind with a very
high billing. He's a guy with four quality pitches who knows how to
pitch."
The amount of Los Angeles' winning bid was confirmed by a
baseball official who spoke on the condition he not be identified.
Dodgers general manager Danny Evans arrived at the last five digits
by adding a combination of the ages and dates of birth of his
children, another baseball official said.
The New York Mets, Texas, Anaheim and Philadelphia also made
bids. The Mets' offer was about $10.1 million.
Under an agreement between the commissioner's offices in Tokyo
and New York, the Dodgers have until midnight ET Feb. 8 to work
out a contract with Ishii.
"We did not make the bid with the intention of not signing
him," Dodgers general manager Dan Evans said. "He's performed
well under a lot of pressure, that meant a lot to us."
After the 2000 season, the Mariners outbid the Dodgers by paying
$13,125,000 to the Orix BlueWave of Japan's Pacific League for the
rights to Suzuki, who then agreed to a three-year contract worth
$14,088,000.
Suzuki had 242 hits, the most in the major leagues since Bill
Terry's 254 in 1930, hit .350 and stole 56 bases to lead the
Mariners to 116 regular-season victories. He was the AL Rookie of
the Year and Most Valuable Player.
Ishii was 12-6 with a 3.39 ERA and 173 strikeouts in 175 innings
for Yakult last season, and went 78-45 with a 3.38 ERA and 1,266
strikeouts in 1,173 innings over 242 games in 10 years with the
Swallows.
"He's clearly a winner, a guy who's had a lot of success in
Japan," Evans said. "He's at least a third starter -- the best
pitcher on the best team in Japan. I think this is where Ishii
wanted to be."
The Swallows won five Japan Series championships in Ishii's 10
years with them.
Ishii would join fellow Japanese pitcher Hideo Nomo, signed as a
free agent by the Dodgers last month, in a rotation that includes
Kevin Brown, Andy Ashby and Omar Daal. Eric Gagne and Terry Mulholland are other potential starters.
"They're elated. We're elated. Ishii is excited," said Joe
Urbon of Octagon, the agent for Ishii.
Urbon spoke Wednesday with Evans, and the sides were working on
arranging a telephone call between the Dodgers and Ishii, who was
in Hawaii.
"We didn't talk specifics," Urbon said. "We certainly hope we
have don't take the full 30 days to do it."
Los Angeles outfielder Shawn Green saw Ishii after the 2000
season when a group of major league all-stars toured Japan.
"He shut us down, a team full of guys like Barry Bonds,
Carlos Delgado," Green said. "Everyone was really impressed
with him. He was the most impressive pitcher we saw there, for
sure."
When asked who Ishii reminded them of, Evans mentioned Andy
Pettitte of the New York Yankees and Green pointed to Minnesota's
Eric Milton.
"That is a key acquisition, it helps our starting rotation so
much," Dodgers pitching coach Jim Colborn said. "I expect him to
be a huge bonus for us."
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