The Los Angeles Dodgers’ quest to bounce back from losing Zack Greinke to the Arizona Diamondbacks took a significant hit on Thursday amid reports of Hisashi Iwakuma failing a physical.
Iwakuma and the Dodgers reportedly agreed to a three-year, $45 million contract just under two weeks ago.
However, while the Dodgers officially announced the signing of Chase Utley during Major League Baseball’s annual Winter Meetings, their deal with Iwakuma remained unofficial.
Although Iwakuma failed the physical, the Dodgers reportedly were still interested in signing the right-hander, albeit to different terms than what was originally agreed upon.
Additionally, Los Angeles was said to have interest in Scott Kazmir and Mike Leake. As for Iwakuma, the Seattle Mariners appeared to have re-entered the picture, via ESPN’s Jim Bowden:
According to sources the Seattle Mariners are now back in the pursuit of Hisashi Iwakuma https://t.co/NnolRhiCfe
— Jim Bowden (@JimBowden_ESPN) December 18, 2015
Iwakuma spent the past four seasons with the Mariners, going 47-25 with a 3.17 ERA, 117 ERA+. 3.62 FIP and 1.06 WHIP.
Last season he was 9-5 with a 3.54 ERA, 3.74 FIP and 1.06 WHIP in 20 starts. Iwakuma spent six weeks on the disabled list due to a strained lat muscle suffered April 25.
Iwakuma threw the fifth no-hitter in Mariners franchise history on Aug. 12. He was extended a qualifying offer by Seattle, which he rejected.
It’s believed the Dodgers’ willingness to include a guaranteed third year was the difference-maker in the initial contract negotiations.
