After multiple setbacks over several weeks, the Los Angeles Dodgers at last addressed their need for starting pitching in the form of Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda.
Kazmir signed a three-year, $48 million contract in late December, while Maeda’s eight-year, $25 million deal was made official on Thursday.
Each agreement comes with its own unique set of circumstances — Kazmir can opt out after the 2016 season, and Maeda can earn more than $100 million over the lifetime of his contract by reaching multiple incentives.
Prior to adding the pair of starters, the Dodgers were unsuccessful in their attempt to re-sign Zack Greinke, and didn’t sign any of Johnny Cueto, David Price, Jeff Samardzija, or any other marquee starter.
However, outside of Cueto and Greinke, the club didn’t appear to get too serious in their pursuit of the aforementioned pitchers. That being said, Los Angeles did come to terms on a three-year, $45 million deal with Hisashi Iwakuma.
The signing was never made official as Iwakuma failed a physical and rather than re-negotiate with the Dodgers, the 34 year old quickly re-signed with the Seattle Mariners.
According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, Iwakuma and Maeda hoped to be teammates in the Majors:
Another interesting twist: Maeda and fellow Japanese right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma are good friends who wanted to pitch for the same team, sources say.
Iwakuma pitched for two clubs in Japan from 2001-11. He attempted to reach the Majors after the 2010 season, but was unable to reach an agreement with the Oakland Athletics, who won the right to negotiate with the righty with a top posting bid of $19.1 million.
Iwakuma went on to sign a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Mariners in January 2012. While Maeda won’t get to play alongside Iwakuma, he spoke fondly of the Dodgers organization and his new teammates on Thursday.
Maeda called Clayton Kershaw a “great pitcher” and said the Dodgers’ ace is someone he’s looking forward to working with and learning from.
