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ATLANTA (AP)—The Atlanta Braves reached agreement with Japanese all-star pitcher Kenshin Kawakami on a three-year contract.

The team scheduled a news conference for Tuesday to announce the deal, Braves spokesman Brad Hainje said.

Terms were not immediately available. Kawakami’s agent, Dan Evans, declined comment until the news conference.

Kawakami, the 2004 Central League MVP, has won 112 games in 11 seasons in Japan and was regarded as one of the top free-agent pitchers from Japan available this offseason. The 33-year-old was 9-5 for the Chunichi Dragons last year, when he missed several weeks because of a back strain.

The 5-foot-10 right-hander was given a physical in Atlanta on Monday.

Kawakami will be introduced in Atlanta the same day Boston holds a news conference to announce they have signed former longtime Braves pitcher John Smoltz.

Though many Atlanta fans are still upset over the loss of Smoltz, Kawakami is important to the Braves’ hopes of rebuilding their rotation.


http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=a ... &type=lgns

The Braves finally have their ace.

They’ve agreed to terms with veteran pitcher Derek Lowe on a four-year, $60 million contract, a person familiar with negotiations said this morning. The deal will be finalized after Lowe takes a physical Wednesday.

Lowe would join a potentially strong new-look Braves rotation that will include Jair Jurrjens and offseason additions Javier Vazquez and Kenshin Kawakami, a Japanesse star who’ll be introduced to Atlanta at a news conference this afternoon to announce his free-agent signing.

Lowe, 35, has been among baseball’s most reliable starting pitchers since moving to Boston’s rotation in 2002, averaging 15 wins, 208 innings and nearly 34 starts over the past seven seasons.

In 2008 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was 14-11 with a 3.24 ERA in 211 innings, including 6-1 with a 1.27 ERA in his last 10 starts.

dbackjon wrote:The Braves finally have their ace.

They’ve agreed to terms with veteran pitcher Derek Lowe on a four-year, $60 million contract, a person familiar with negotiations said this morning. The deal will be finalized after Lowe takes a physical Wednesday.

Lowe would join a potentially strong new-look Braves rotation that will include Jair Jurrjens and offseason additions Javier Vazquez and Kenshin Kawakami, a Japanesse star who’ll be introduced to Atlanta at a news conference this afternoon to announce his free-agent signing.

Lowe, 35, has been among baseball’s most reliable starting pitchers since moving to Boston’s rotation in 2002, averaging 15 wins, 208 innings and nearly 34 starts over the past seven seasons.

In 2008 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was 14-11 with a 3.24 ERA in 211 innings, including 6-1 with a 1.27 ERA in his last 10 starts.

I'm gonna laugh my ASS off at the Braves and their fans in years 2-4 of this contract. Anybody who thinks he's gonna get BETTER outside of Dodger stadium as he gets older is smokin' crack.

Very expensive for a pitcher like Lowell - Braves are still gonna finish 3rd in their division