NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Seattle Mariners’ traveling party hadn’t fully checked in Sunday at the Winter Meetings when news broke that starting pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma might be heading to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
That news surfaced in a twitter report by ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden. While there was no official confirmation, multiple subsequent reports indicated the two sides were close to an agreement.
This much is certain: The Dodgers escalated their pursuit of Iwakuma after losing free-agent right-hander Zack Greinke to Arizona last week.
Terms of Iwakuma’s possible deal with the Dodgers were not known, although a CBS Sports report said it was believed to be three years.
Losing Iwakuma would be a big blow to the Mariners, who would have to find a front-line replacement elsewhere — but don’t expect them to respond by pursuing the likes of, say, Johnny Cueto.
“We are not likely to be about marquee names and big signings,” Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said in anticipation of the meetings. “This is going to be about complimentary pieces. … We’ve done our big-game hunting in the past with Nelson (Cruz), with Robby Cano, and then extending and signing Felix (Hernandez) and Kyle Seager. … That is the group we are building around.”
Woodward to Dodgers
The Dodgers are poised to add former Mariners first-base coach Chris Woodward to their staff under new manager Dave Roberts, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.
Woodward was offered the chance to remain with Seattle after Dipoto fired manager Lloyd McClendon, but he opted to resign after citing a desire to be closer to his family in Florida.
Roberts was one of three finalists to replace McClendon as the Mariners’ manager before Seattle hired Scott Servais.
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