Hisashi Iwakuma is staying in Seattle. (Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports)
After failing a physical with the Los Angeles Dodgers, right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma re-signed with the Seattle Mariners on Thursday, agreeing to a one-year deal with vesting options for 2017 and 2018.
Iwakuma initially signed a three-year, $45 million deal with the Dodgers on Dec. 6. The financial terms of his new contract weren’t announced.
On Thursday afternoon, multiple media outlets reported Los Angeles was backing out of the contract after evaluating the results of his physical and discovering an unknown medical issue.
While reports indicated that the Dodgers were continuing to negotiate with Iwakuma, reports also surfaced that the Mariners resumed their pursuit of the 34-year-old.
Iwakuma rejected Seattle’s $15.8 million qualifying offer when free agency began. He also turned down the Mariners’ two-year, $30 million offer shortly before the agreement with the Dodgers.
“We said from the start Kuma was a priority for us,” Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto said. “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.
“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 offseason.”
Iwakuma was limited to 20 starts last season due to a strained lat muscle, and he went 9-5 with a 3.54 ERA. He is 47-35 with a 3.17 ERA in four seasons for the Mariners.
Iwakuma, 34, is 47-25 with a 3.17 ERA in four major league seasons after leaving Japan. He threw a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles Aug. 12, was an All-Star in 2013 and finished third in the AL Cy Young voting in 2013.
Iwakuma’s re-signing continued a busy offseason for the Mariners. Last month, they obtained right-hander Nathan Karns from Tampa Bay, and during the winter meetings they acquired left-hander Wade Miley from Boston.
