Recipe

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Q.  Trade Iwakuma?

A.  As hard as it is to choke the words out ... time to SELL HIGH.  :: jim carrey phantom nausea effort ::

Dr. D had penciled Iwakuma in for about a 2-, maybe 3-year shelf life when he came over here.  This was oh, about 2-3 years ago.  There was a lot of DiceK in his career arc, seemed to us.  Question Dr. D's wisdom at your PERIL, babe.

Also, here's a guy where the tiniest fade = giant, blossomy mushroom cloud that busts windows out at seven miles.  Iwakuma's fastball has zero length to spare, his location has zero inches to spare, his shoulder is scotch-taped with four one-inch strips at 3 6 9 12 o'clock ...

Think Jamie Moyer with vaguely unreliable command, two men on base and three HR threats in a row due up.  That would be any scary middle of the order in the American League, which would be any lineup but Seattle's.  When a slopballer's success window is hair-fine, he can't afford to start pulling hair out of the brush.  Dr. D would know.

... True, the M's have been pretty delicate with Iwakuma.  It's not a slam dunk no-brainer that he will get hurt.  Is it ever?, before a pitcher goes down.

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Q.  Can the M's spare him?

A.  They're about to.

Spare him, that is.  As soon as something (ELSE) pops in his shoulder.

You gotta agree with Logan:  the M's rotation "depth," isn't.  Trade Iwakuma, have anything whatsoever happen to Felix, and you'll need for all the rookies to pitch like A's rookies.  The sprinklies on top of this cupcake diagnosis:  Jack Zduriencik didn't even want to trust Paxton or Taijuan, WITH Iwakuma here.  See any Billy Beanes around here?

(Granted, you think of a Bartender who'd fix the depth if you let him do so.  But that guy is wayyyy too valuable serving 5th innings to a 6-1 deficit.  Or, as they say in swankier places than SSI:  Wilhelmsen's 2014 "game leverage index" was below 1.0.)

"Sell high" may be the dominant factor in Iwakuma's case.  Then, you figure things out from there.  At least, that's how the little punch cards come out of the 1971 mainframe.

........

The M's see Paxton as a legit #2 now, so if you went out and found a .500'ish veteran for the #3-4 slot you have raised the M's comfort level high enough.  Then Taijuan and Elias serve just fine at the back of the rotation.

To the M's, now.  If the Beane-Meister were at the helm, that would be a different sitch entirely.

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Q.  Deal him, even though Iwakuma is under club control until 2018?