POTD Hisashi Iwakuma - Dr's R/X
.............
Q. If the M's got Fielder as well as Iwakuma, does SSI count that as a double offseason?
A. Without a doubt. This is a $12M pitcher.
Hey, where baseball is going now that the CBA's in place, what is $12M? Is that 2.5 WAR or is it 2.0 WAR? Iwakuma could easily earn $20M in Safeco, as Doug Fister was doing last year.
You're talking a Garza, Gio type impact probably ... Give or take the Taijuan, Hultzen and Paxton that WSN coughed up for Gio.
.
Q. Bottom line?
A. The balm that salves our Doug Fister heartbreak. :- ) Hey, you don't suppose they had their eye on Iwakuma when they shed Doogie, do you .... Naaaaahhhhhh.
Last year, I was incredibly frustrated that just as we came up with a Michael Pineda ... Texas came up with an Alexi Ogando who, though not appreciated enough, was 95% of what Pineda was. Stealth mode.
Maybe the M's turn the tables this year. Maybe as Ogando was to Pineda, now Iwakuma is to Darvish?
.
Q. Would you rather have Iwakuma than Millwood?
A. The Suppan - Moyer - Millwood scrap heap does not provide the comparables on this guy.
The question, in the minds of many NPB fans, is whether you would rather (in year 1 and year 2) have Iwakuma or Yu Darvish. I think it's a fair question, though I'd take the 94 mph.
.
Q. Would you deal Iwakuma for ... Doug Fister?
A. I'll guarantee you that the Mariners would. I'm Fister's biggest fan, and I'd have a very tough decision at that point. It says here that Hisashi Iwakuma can peeeeetch, amigo.
Call them comps. If you were pining for 1 Felix 2 Pineda 3 Fister, here you go. The M's would be good with Iwakuma in that slot.
Iwakuma doesn't have a long ways to go, to comp to Gio Gonzalez and Matt Garza, if you ask me. Over the 3-year scan, I might go something like Darvish > Gio > Iwakuma > Garza > Buehrle. You got a WBC star whose game is U.S.-oriented before he even gets here. I'd be psyched.
Make It So,
Dr D