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Mr WBC-san a Mariner!  YYEEAAAHHHHH!

The Mariners announced that they have agreed to a new deal with right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma that will extend him through 2014 with an option for 2015.  Terms of the deal are not yet known.

Seattle had exclusive negoatiating rights with the pitcher through tomorrow night.  If General Manager Jack Zduriencik did not reach agreement with Iwakuma by the deadline then the hurler would not have been able to pitch until May 15th.

The M's inked Iwakuma to a one-year, $1.5MM deal last year and did well in his debut MLB season.  The 31-year-old 3.16 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 16 starts and 14 relief appearances.

Read more at http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/11/mariners-iwakuma-agree-to-extension.html#668GjdPR0c4GiosW.99 

If you click on the Iwakuma SSI hashtag you get ... ulp ... 40 articles on him.  I've got to do something about this, man.  ::insanely stares into mirror for seven hours tweaking::  That's about 20,000 words on him.  Our gopher rate was, we modestly claim, in the 0.8 range...

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Q.  Where does he rank among AL starters?

A.  Iwakuma, as a starter, ran a 3.61 xFIP based on 7.4 strikeouts, 2.7 walks, and 1.0 homers with a >50% grounder rate.  That 3.61 xFIP, if he'd qualified, would have put him #9 in the American League.  Guess who was #8?  Yu Darvish.  Guess who was #10?  Hiroki Kuroda.

Statistically, Iwakuma was a top-12 starter.  Going forward, if he's healthy, I've got no problem slotting him #15 or #20 in the league.  he's now a proven NPB conversion.

Q.  Is the 7.4 / 2.7 / 1.0 slash line repeatable?  

A.  Basically it's the mid-to-upper projection, yes.  The K's and BB's could both drop a bit, and in the new Safeco the homers bear watching.   But Iwakuma's bat-missing skills are legit (he had a higher SwStr% than Matt Cain) and he's got a year of NPB-MLB gopher adjustment under his belt.  You can be moderately confident about the HR rate and the K rate.

Remember the 13-K wipeout of the Blue Jays right outta the box, once he went into the rotation.  You ain't gonna get that outta no Anthony Vasquez.  American hitters go up there too aggressive against Iwakuma's screwball, he's going to embarrass them.

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Q.  What was that A game and B game thing again?

A.  On a good day, Iwakuma's balance is just right, he pauses at the top a bit more, he steps forward a few inches more and snaps off the wrist a bit better .. the fastball goes by hitters, the slider bites, and the shuuto is icing on the cake.  Shutout city.

On a bad day, his footing isn't right, the wrist doesn't snap, the annoyed umps don't call strikes .... but the sense of danger, the intelligence, and the 25-second pitch delays usually cobble together a 7-hit, 3-run kind of day.

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Q.  Who are his comps?

A.  Statistically he falls in the Kuroda basket.  7 strikeouts, 2-3 walks, grab bag of legit pitches all used in baffling sequences.

Sylistically, Iwakuma is a change-speed righty, a template that's not understood well.  He's got off-the-charts pitchability and sense of danger.  Think of Iwakuma as Doug Fister, minus just a biscuit, or the Oakland version of Dan Haren, minus two biscuits.  

In fact with Felix, Iwakuma and Erasmo, the M's have a Big Three that remind you of Verlander, Fister and Scherzer.

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Q.  How long did it take to triangulate him?

A.  Me, or m'man Eric Wedge?  >:- ]

Our last post on him was the Kris Medlen / Erasmo Ramirez article.  Our first post on him, last New Year's Day, forecast a $10-12M major league starter that "would be the balm on the Doug Fister wound."  That'll do for us today.   In between, there were 38 posts with which we had entirely too much fun.

Mr. WBC-san is fragile, but he is a #2-3 starting pitcher as are Kuroda and Fister.  The 2013 Mariners go to camp with a Big Three that collectively will xFIP with the best of 'em.