Hisashi Iwakuma will not join the Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics went out to Japan to acquire right hand Japanese star, Hisashi Iwakuma and they were counting their chances at the start of the negotiation period. However, the two parties locked in a discussion were unable to meet an agreement as
the A’s saw the possible contract signing fly out of their hands.
General Manager, Billy Beane recently issued a statement saying, "We would like to express our appreciation to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles for the opportunity to negotiate with Mr. Iwakuma, and we regret that an agreement could not be reached by today's
deadline. In this instance, the player was in a unique situation, being only one year away from free agency, and we fully respect and understand his position."
The two sides were never reaching a mutual agreement on the table in the duration of the negotiation process. The A’s were in the best position to bring to the table, a deal that would be acceptable on all fronts but the moment never came in the 30-day period.
Don Nomura, Iwakuma’s agent, went so far as to accuse the Oakland side of manipulation. He claimed the club had stalled other teams from contacting the player
The accusation alleged the A’s in barring teams from luring the player to their side with a $19.1 million posting fee. The agent posted his allegation on Twitter. Many supporters of the idea did agree and it was believed Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners
were really interested in the pitcher. However, Oakland’s Assistant General Manager David Forst, has rubbished the allegations.
Forst claims the club scouted the player during the World Baseball Classic tournament held in Japan, this year. He claims the A’s intended to bring the player to the States and he in particular did not know how much the competing teams were weighing in with
bidding amounts for the posting fee. David went on to say the General Manager, Billy Beane, discussed the matter with Nomura but the general problem was always an agreement on a salary package.
"The talks were very cordial," Forst reiterated. "Don has a lot of experience in this market in general. Both sides were very anxious to get something done. We just ultimately couldn't find enough common ground to do it. More than anything, we're disappointed.
We were excited we won the posting and were looking forward to the possibility of having Hisashi on our club."
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