A couple tweets came out from FOX Sports’ Jon (Paul? is there still a Paul in here?) Morosi this morning. In them, he served up a reminder to us with a side dish of “thought.”
The main course:
Reminder: Hisashi Iwakuma has contract language that allows him to become a free agent without the standard 6 years of service.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 19, 2013
Reminders are good! Especially this time of year when there are so many things going on. Hot Stove, et cetera.
This really is an important item to consider, as this team needs more players like Iwakuma, not less players like Iwakuma.
The Japanese native came to the Seattle Mariners extremely cheap, because pitchers who have injury histories in the arm with which they throw tend to figuratively wave red flags.
There was a ton of upside for a guy who would have cost much more had it not been for those shoulder issues. Elbow injuries are still bad for pitchers, but advances in medical treatment have made them far-less career threatening, whereas bum shoulders lead to guys becoming bad pitchers. Or chefs.
Dammit, I should have known this food theme would lead to you, Ryan Anderson.
Okay, give us our fries, Jon:
Iwakuma's contract with Mariners is up after this year, with a vesting club option for 2015. So he is relatively close to free agency.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 19, 2013
Per Cot’s Contracts, Iwakuma’s option for 2015 is $7 million. The only way that option isn’t getting exercised is if Iwakuma gets seriously hurt. If he’s not hurt, those seven million smackers are going to be seen as a massive bargain — one of the best in baseball for a front-of-the-rotation arm in his prime. If he were to be hurt for a prolonged period, the option might not vest. But then, we might not want it to vest, because he’s hurt.
Really, the only bad outcome for the M’s here would be if Iwakuma is just downright terrible, but healthy, and the option vests and then he’s terrible again. However, one year of a bad starting pitcher at $7 million is something that other teams voluntarily seek every off-season. So, really, is there any bad outcome? Optimism reigns supreme!
Jon Morosi wants you to remember that Hisashi Iwakuma might be a free agent relatively soon. But then, cosmically speaking, Seattle is relatively close to Shanghai and that bastard Clay Bennett’s deeds are relatively close to being forgotten.
I don’t know what the point of this reminder was. Maybe Morosi is bored on a quiet news and rumor day. But, there hasn’t been any talk of Iwakuma being traded. There’s no talk about him being hurt. And if you start those talks, I’ll literally slap you in the mouth.
Until our prospects turn into pitchers they are just suspects. We need all the arms we can latch onto, as Saunders, Harang, Bonderman, Maurer, Beavan and Noesi showed us this year. Nolasco and Santana want silly money but there are still useful arms for sale, we need to buy a couple. I’d be happy with two of Jimenez, Vargas, Colon, Feldman, Hughes, Kazmir, Maholm, Feldman or Garza.
I agree to an extent. I wouldn’t trade him now. The team’s pitching staff isn’t in much better shape than the offense. After Felix and Iwakuma, there are a lot of question marks. If the off-season is a total bust and Iwakuma is having another All-Star season at the deadline, that vesting option all of a sudden makes his trade value pretty high. So, yeah, if that’s the case, it might be a good idea to get something good since he’d be more than just a rental.
I would listen to trade offers for Iwakuma. After David Price, he’d be the best guy on the marker (and a lot cheaper). He was great last year, but pitched way above hid FIP and xFIP. Given his age, history of arm issues, and the likelihood that he’s reached peak value, this might be the tie to flip him for hitters.
The nice thing about Iwakuma is that he’d fit on almost any team: the rich clubs like LAA, LAD, NYY, TEX, as well as smaller market teams like PIT, BAL, KC, etc. Thus, the pool of teams considering him would be large. If I was Jack, I’d be open to finding a similar deal as the James Shields/Wil Myers trade last year.
I wonder if the Pirates would give up for him? Gregory Polanco plus?
It’s worth considering.