Iwamura, 30, has played the past three seasons with the Rays
Iwamura, 30, has played the past three seasons with the Rays after nine years in Japan. He's a career .281 hitter in the U.S. Major Leagues who batted .290 in 2009 with 19 extra-base hits and 22 RBis in 69 games but missed nearly three months with a left knee injury. Iwamura, a six-time Gold Glove winner and five-time All-Star in Japan, signed a three-year deal with Tampa Bay on Dec. 15, 2006, that included a club option for '10. The Rays were expected to decline that option, so they opted to move Iwamura and add 26-year-old Chavez, who is coming off his first full Major League season. He led the Pirates with 73 appearances to go with a 4.01 ERA and a better than two-to-one strikeouts to walks ratio (47 strikeouts vs. 22 walks in 67 1/3 innings).
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