Padres Replacing David Wells With Kei Igawa?

That's what Ken Rosenthal is suggesting, and he's been all over the Padres' pitching situation. As we speculated earlier in the week, and then Rosenthal later confirmed, David Wells was cut by San Diego following a series of poor starts. Now Rosenthal says the Padres have claimed Yankee import, Kei Igawa, off waivers:

The Padres, continuing in their attempt to upgrade their starting rotation, have claimed Igawa off waivers, major league sources told FOXSports.com.
San Diego was awarded the claim on Friday, and the two teams have until the end of the weekend to work out a trade for the 28-year-old Japanese pitcher. If no deal can be worked out in that time frame, Igawa would remain in New York for at least the rest of the season.

No American League team put a claim on Igawa, nor did any National League with a worse record than San Diego.

Considering the Yanks paid a total of $46 million for Igawa (26 of which went as a negotiating fee to the Hanshin Tigers), Rosenthal believes it is unlikely the Yanks let Igawa go. That sounds reasonable, as Igawa has another four years to turn things around in New York. Similarly, the Yanks have already been burned by trading Jose Contreras, and probably wouldn't want the same thing to happen with Kei. Now, Hideki Irabu, well that's a completely different story.

(via Ballhype)

Previously at FanHouse:
David Wells Has Worn Out His Welcome
Is David Wells Done With the Padres?