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11/03/2009 7:02 PM ET
Pirates acquire Akinori Iwamura from Tampa Bay
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The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced they have acquired infielder Akinori Iwamura from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange
for right-handed pitcher Jesse Chavez. The announcement was made by Pirates Senior Vice President, General
Manager Neal Huntington.
The 30-year-old Iwamura, who was a nine-year veteran of the Japanese Central League while playing with Yakult from 1998
to 2006, spent the last three seasons playing with Tampa Bay. He was converted from a third baseman to a second baseman
following the 2007 campaign and went on to make 152 appearances at second base for the American League champion
Rays in 2008. Iwamura also led the Rays in hits (172), runs (91) and at bats (627) in 2008 while ranking third in the
American League in triples (nine).
A career .281 hitter in the Major Leagues, the left-handed hitting Iwamura hit .290 (67-for-231) with 19 extra-base hits
and 22 RBI in 69 games for the Rays in 2009. He missed close to three months of big-league action after suffering a partially
torn ACL in a collision with Florida's Chris Coghlan on May 24 (he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on
June 22).
Huntington announced that the Pirates have exercised the club option on Iwamura for the 2010 season.
"Akinori Iwamura brings to the Pittsburgh Pirates solid attributes offensively, defensively, on the base paths and in the clubhouse," said Huntington. "He is a good athlete with above average speed and is a tough out with a solid career on-base
percentage. Additionally, he played Gold Glove caliber third base for years in Japan and has made a smooth transition to
second base. We are very pleased to add a player of his caliber to our lineup and to our organization."
Iwamura, a six-time Gold Glove winner (2000-02, 2004-06) and five-time All-Star (2001-02, 2004-06) while playing in
Japan, signed a three-year deal with Tampa Bay on December 15, 2006.
During his rookie season with the Rays in 2007, Iwamura hit .285 with 21 doubles, 10 triples, seven home runs, 34 RBI
and 12 stolen bases in 123 games. His .359 on-base percentage that season tied him with Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki for
third among Major League rookies and set a Rays rookie record. He also produced a .975 fielding percentage in 2007 to
rank first among all Major League third basemen.
Iwamura has also captured two Gold Medals while playing with Japan during the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classics,
hitting .386 with three RBI in 2006 and .286 with three RBI in 2009.
The 26-year-old Chavez spent his first full season in the Majors in 2009 and led the Pittsburgh pitching staff with 73 appearances.
He was acquired by the Pirates from Texas on July 31, 2006, in a deal for pitcher Kip Wells.
Akinori Iwamura
- The 5 foot 9, 200 pound Iwamura is a career .281 hitter with 14 HR, 104 RBI, 201 runs-scored
and 29 stolen bases in three seasons in the Major Leagues.
- Hit .290 with 1 HR, 22 RBI, 9 stolen bases and 19 extra base hits in 69 games with the Rays in
2009.
- Missed two months of the season after being slid into at second base and tearing his
ACL; had successful microscopic surgery and returned to the lineup in late August.
- Led the Rays in hits (172), runs (91), at-bats (627) and games played (152) in 2008.
- His 41 hits in May led the American League and set a Rays record for the month.
- Ranked third in the American League in triples (9) and ninth in singles (127) in 2008.
- Hit .285 with seven HR, 34 RBI and 12 stolen bases during his rookie campaign in 2007.
- His .285 batting average was fifth among qualifying Major League rookies and the thirdhighest
by a rookie in Rays history.
- His .359 on-base percentage tied him with Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki for third among
Major League rookies and set a Rays record
- Led all Major League rookies in triples with 10 in 2007.
- Reached base via hit or walk in all but 14 of his 122 starts.
- His .479 on-base percentage in April was fifth-best in the American League and thirdbest
by a rookie (min.50 plate appearances) in the opening month in the last 50 years.
- Had 19 triples over the 2007 and 2008 seasons, tying him with Carl Crawford for the secondmost
in the American League during that time.
- In three seasons in the Majors with the Rays, he has a career .983 fielding percentage.
- His .975 fielding percentage in 2007 was the best among all Major League third
basemen and ranked second all-time by a rookie third baseman behind Don
Gutteridge's .978 mark for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1937.
- In 2008, was converted to second base after spending his entire career as a third baseman and
had a .990 fielding percentage in 688 total chances.
- Began the year with a 74-game errorless streak.
- As a member of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows from 1998-2006 in the NPB (Nippon Professional
Baseball) League:
- He was a six-time Gold Glove winner (2000-2002, 2004-2006)
- Five-time All-Star (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006)
- Two-time Best Nine (2002, 2006), awarded to the best player at each position in the
NPB
- Month of August MVP (2004)
- Japan Series Valuable Player (2001)
- Was a career .300 hitter in Japan with 188 HR, 570 RBI from 1998-2006.
- He finished in the top 10 in hitting during three seasons: fourth in 2002 (.320), sixth in
2005 (.319) and fifth in 2006 (.311).
- He averaged a .307 batting average, 35 HR and 94 RBI per season in his last three
seasons in Japan.
- In 2006, he finished in the top five in the Central League in batting average (.311),
slugging percentage (.552), total bases (292), home runs (32) and walks (67).
- In 2005, he was one of only four players to hit .300 or higher, 30 home runs or more and
drive in 100 or more.
- In 2004, tied a Yakult franchise record for most home runs in a season with 44.
- Hit .386 with a triple and 3 RBI for Gold Medal-winning Japan in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.
- Hit .286 with a triple and 3 RBI for Gold Medal-winning Japan in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
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