Dodgers sign free-agent Hisashi Iwakuma
Having been outbid for other pitchers so far in free agency — by teams in their own division, no less — the Los Angeles Dodgers finally struck a deal to improve their starting rotation Sunday night. With the winter meetings set to begin Monday, the Dodgers signed right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma, CBS Sports MLB Insider Jon Heyman reports.
Terms of the deal were not immediately available. It’s believed to be for three years, which Iwakuma was said to be seeking. Heyman also projected an average annual value of $14 million.
Iwakuma, who turns 35 in April, posted a 3.54 ERA in 20 starts with the Mariners in 2015. He missed several weeks, beginning in April, because of a strained lat, but he finished healthy and strong. Overall, he has a 3.17 ERA with 551 strikeouts, 127 walks and 580 hits allowed in 653 2/3 innings since coming over from Japan in 2012. He made the AL All-Star team and finished third in Cy Young voting in 2013, his best season so far.
The Dodgers starting rotation is loaded with left-handers — Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Brett Anderson and Alex Wood — with Mike Bolsinger penciled in as the lone righty. Zack Greinke was lost in free agency after he and the Arizona Diamonbacks agreed to a $206.5 million deal Friday. The Dodgers, exercising fiscal restraint despite being the richest team in the league, also were outbid for David Price (Red Sox), Jordan Zimmermann (Tigers) and Jeff Samardzija, who went to the Giants.
The Dodgers also are said to be interested in Reds left-hander Aroldis Chapman, but would have to surrender prospects to get him. The Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn., run through Thursday morning.
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