Arguably the second best pitcher in Japan (after the ridiculously dominant Yu Darvish), the 6'3", 170 pound, 29 year old right-hander has posted a record of 49-24 with an ERA of 2.70 over the last four seasons with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Iwakuma has a 3/4 delivery and is a fastball/slider/two-seamer/forkball pitcher with extreme ground ball tendencies. With Oakland sporting one of the best fielding infields in baseball, this would appear to be a perfect fit.
The former Pacific League MVP did suffer some injury issues in late 2006 into 2007, which forced him to learn a new way to pitch in an effort to relieve some of the stress on his arm. Prior to the injury, his fastball came in around 94-95. It now rests at 90-91 but is not seen as an issue as he has such fine control over all his pitches.
Oakland will now have 30 days during which time they retain exclusive negotiating rights to the pitcher. Since Japanese teams don't post players without understanding they'll likely lose them, the negotiations should move forward without much issue.
Most scouts believe the pitcher projects as either a decent 3rd or solid 4th starter in the big leagues.
Oakland A's Potential Starting Five:
ReplyDelete1. Trevor Cahill (18-8, 2.97 ERA)
2. Gio Gonzalez (15-9, 3.23 ERA)
3. Brett Anderson (7-6, 2.80 ERA)
4. Hisashi Iwakuma (10-9, 2.82 ERA w/ Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles)
5. Dallas Braden (11-14, 3.50 ERA, pitched Perfect Game, led AL in shutouts)
If this team gets ANY offense at all, watch out.
Next season will hopefully prove exciting, what with the kick in the balls that Oakland and Anaheim received this year. I'm not sure my baseball pants can handle more.
ReplyDeleteIn a strange twist, Oakland has broken off talks with Iwakuma due to what appears to be an unrealistic contract request. Oakland is rumored to be offering somewhere in the $5 million per year range, where Iwakuma is said to be asking for a 'Zito deal'. In 2007, Barry Zito signed a 7-year, $126 million deal with the San Francisco Giants. Iwakuma is set to announce his return to Japan for the upcoming season and the $17 million Oakland bid for his negotiating rights will be returned to the club.
ReplyDelete