Mariners re-sign Hisashi Iwakuma after Dodgers deal falls through

Bob Nightengale | USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ winter of frustration continued Thursday night when Hishashi Iwakuma, who agreed to a three-year, $45 million contract two weeks ago, turned around and re-signed with the Seattle Mariners after the two sides failed to finalize the deal.

The Mariners, after catching wind of a snag in the negotiations involving Iwakuma’s physical, swooped in and signed Iwakuma to a one-year guaranteed contract with two option years.

“We said from the start that Kuma was a priority for us,” said Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto, who announced the deal at the Mariners’ holiday party. “Obviously, the developments from the last few days allowed us to get back in the game. It’s a credit to our ownership; to Howard Lincoln, to Kevin Mather, to our entire ownership group that we were able to get aggressive and find a way to bring Kuma back to the Mariners.

Jerry Dipoto delivers a special gift to the front office at the #Mariners holiday party: Kuma is back. pic.twitter.com/8Bo8Y93ub2 — Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) December 18, 2015

“We’re all thrilled. This is a big move for us. We feel like this really puts a finishing touch on what we think has been a very productive off-season.”

Iwakuma, 34, was 9-5 with a 3.54 ERA with 111 strikeouts in 20 starts with the Mariners last season. The Mariners 11 of his final 16 starts of the season when he went 9-4 with a 2.82 ERA.

Iwakuma has gone 47-25 with a 3.17 ERA) with 551 strikeouts in 111 games, including 97 starts. His 3.09 ERA with the Mariners ranks fourth in the American League behind teammate Felix Hernandez, David Price (2.89) of the Boston Red Sox and Chris Sale (3.05) of the Chicago White Sox.

The Mariners, who traded for Red Sox starter Wade Miley after it appeared Iwakuma was joining the Dodgers, now have a deep rotation of Hernandez, Iwakuma, Miley, Taijuan Walker, James Paxton and Nathan Karns.

The Dodgers, who lost Zack Greinke to the Arizona Diamondbacks during free agency this winter, and have watched the rival San Francisco Giants spent $220 million on two free-agent starters, are back at the drawing board. They still are seeking at least one, if not two front-line starters to help support ace Clayton Kershaw.

The Dodgers also believed they had completed a trade last week with the Cincinnati Reds for All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman, only to have the trade thwarted after discovering that he was involved in a domestic violence incident with his girlfriend, in which he shot a handgun eight times. The incident, which occurred in October, now is being investigated by Major League Baseball.

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