Dodgers cancel contract with Hisashi Iwakuma due to failed physical

Iwakuma and the Dodgers agreed December 6 to a three-year contract for $45 million pending a physical, but Jiji Press reported Thursday that LA officials began backing away from the deal after viewing results of the exam.

The two sides have continued to talk in hopes of keeping the deal alive.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have already allowed all the big-name starting pitchers to sign elsewhere this offseason and now their mid-level signing has fallen through.

Iwaukuma, who will turn 35 in April, appeared in a career-low 20 games in 2015 due to various injuries, including a finger injury which caused him to miss most of spring training and a lat injury.

Overall, Iwakuma was 9-5 with a 3.54 ERA (107 ERA+), 1.06 WHIP and 111 strikeouts in 129 2/3 innings.

Thus far no one from the Dodgers have confirmed the report but this would hardly be the first time something like this has happened during free agency. If those efforts fail, Iwakuma could return to the free-agent market – with reduced negotiating leverage. However, the Dodgers likely did not see a promising enough prognosis over the life of the deal they had agreed to.

The Mariners sought to retain Iwakuma by, first, extending a qualifying offer of $15.8 million. Iwakuma had recently passed a physical issued to him by his former club, the Seattle Mariners.

The Dodgers have Clayton Kershaw, Brett Anderson, Alex Wood and Mike Bolsinger in the rotation, while Hyun-Jin Ryu is coming in after having an injury.