Originally Posted by ESPN

NEW YORK -- Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa and the New York Yankees completed their $20 million, five-year contract on Wednesday, a deal that was in the works for weeks.

The Yankees had until Thursday to finalize an agreement with Igawa after bidding $26,000,194 last month for the right to negotiate with him. The left-hander went 14-9 with a 2.97 ERA and 194 strikeouts for the Hanshin Tigers last season.

The Yankees must pay the bid fee to the Tigers within five business days.

Igawa, 27, figures to fit at the back end of a rotation that includes Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte and Randy Johnson -- though the Yankees are exploring trade offers for Johnson.

New York also has oft-injured right-hander Carl Pavano and a couple of touted pitching prospects in Philip Hughes and Humberto Sanchez.

Igawa visited New York last week and took a tour of Yankee Stadium. He becomes the Yankees' newest Japanese player -- they also have left fielder Hideki Matsui.

Igawa gets $4 million each year and can earn $500,000 annually in performance bonuses. He can earn $125,000 each for 180, 190, 200, 210 innings pitched. He would be eligible for arbitration after the 2011 season, and free agency after the 2012 season.

New York's biggest rival, the Boston Red Sox, bid $51.11 million for negotiating rights to Japanese ace Daisuke Matsuzaka this offseason and signed him to a $52 million, six-year contract.

Igawa, who tied for the Central League lead in strikeouts last season after winning strikeout titles in 2002 and 2004, has said he is looking ahead to possible pitching duels with Matsuzaka, the MVP of the inaugural World Baseball Classic.