Hisashi Iwakuma likely to return to Japan
Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma may have to wait for another year before fulfilling his dream of playing in the Major League.
This was revealed by the player's agent Don Nomura, who said talks between the Rakuten Eagles’ star hurler and the Oakland Athletics broke down.
Nomura said on his Twitter account that the Athletics were not keen on spending a huge amount to sign Iwakuma. He said that Oakland could only come up with a four-year offer worth 15.25 million dollars, which is equivalent to what Iwakuma is receiving from
the Eagles in terms of average annual salary.
Nomura said he requested the Athletics to reconsider their offer but the American League club said that they have no budget for Iwakuma considering that they also have to pay a $19.1 million posting fee for the exclusive rights to negotiate with him.
The player agent went to the extent of lowering their demands just to push through with a deal, but has not heard from Oakland officials afterwards.
Iwakuma and the Athletics have until 7 December to complete their negotiations. The World Baseball Classic veteran will go back to Rakuten next season if no deal is signed.
Iwakuma was disappointed with the outcome of the negotiations.
"If it ends like this, then I guess they really didn't want me," the 29-year-old said.
Rakuten officials declined to comment on the issue.
"I can't comment until it's official, one way or the other. I want him to live out his dream. I hope they keep talking as long as time allows it," Eagles representative Jun Yoneda said.
A former Pacific League Most Valuable Player and Sawamura Award winner, Iwakuma posted a 10-9 record with a 2.82 ERA for the bottom-ranked Eagles this past season. He has an NPB career record of 101-62 with a 3.32 ERA in 209 games.
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