In an interesting twist, the Seattle Mariners announced the signing of starting pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma to a one-year contract, with vesting options for the next two years.
Iwakuma was reportedly headed to the Dodgers on a three-year, $45 million deal, but the deal did not work out. Instead, he returned to the team with which he spent his first four seasons in the majors.
Strong close
Though there might be concerns about Iwakuma’s health, he finished the season strong. In his last 12 starts spanning August to October, he went 7-3 with a 2.63 ERA, 74 strikeouts and 13 walks.
In his first eight starts, he was 2-2 with a 5.10 ERA in 47 2/3 innings pitched. His bugaboo was the home run. He allowed 11 in his first 47 2/3 innings, compared with seven in his last 82 innings.
Aggressive offseason continues
Since joining the Mariners, general manager Jerry Dipoto has been the most aggressive executive in baseball. He has revamped his outfield by adding Nori Aoki and Leonys Martin and brought in a new starting first baseman in Adam Lind and a catcher in Chris Iannetta.
He added two starting pitchers in trade, Wade Miley and Nate Karns, and rebuilt his bullpen by signing Steve Cishek and trading for Joaquin Benoit, Evan Scribner and Anthony Bass.
The Mariners ranked 17th in the majors in starting pitcher ERA last season and 25th in bullpen ERA.
But the Mariners can feel good in knowing that Iwakuma and Felix Hernandez both had ERAs below 3.00 from September to the end of the season. Moreover, Taijuan Walker had seven starts allowing no runs or one run in his last 20 starts before he was shut down because of an innings limit.
