Hisashi Iwakuma, Mariners happy to reunite after Dodgers deal called off

If in the end it was as it sounds – a case of very cold feet by both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Hisashi Iwakuma – the Mariners were right there with a pair of warm, fuzzy, fleece slippers.

“Two days ago (the Dodgers) told me they wanted to renegotiate the whole thing, and right when that happened the Mariners reached out to me and they made me a good offer,” Iwakuma said Friday of his failed agreement to go to L.A. “Inside my head somewhere I knew I wanted to come back and play here. I had a grey cloud on top of me that went away two days ago. It’s been a great two days.”

Related: Photo gallery from Hisashi Iwakuma’s Safeco Field press conference

The deal came about quickly. On Wednesday, general manager Jerry Dipoto spoke with Iwakuma’s agent by phone and began to get some insight into the situation that led the the Dodgers to ask Iwakuma to renegotiate the three-year, $45 million contract that had been verbally agreed to. On Thursday, Iwakuma was meeting face to face with him in his office at Safeco Field, and by Thursday night the deal was done.

“This was a great opportunity to reunite with a guy who quite frankly should have always been with the Mariners,” said Dipoto.

We still don’t know what it is the Dodgers saw in Iwakuma’s physical that gave them pause. Kuma insists he is healthy, and the Mariners, who put him through an exit physical in early October, will not put him through another.

“We are very comfortable with his physical condition,” said assistant general manager Jeff Kingston, who went on to admit that with the knowledge and information the Mariners had on Iwakuma it was a surprise that the Dodgers had issues.

“The process is different with different organizations; no two are the same,” he said. “You never know how somebody might view your player’s medical.”

The deal between the Mariners and Iwakuma came down quickly, within the last 48 hours. Despite the fact that Iwakuma’s original verbal agreement with the Dodgers was reached Dec. 6 and nothing had happened, Kingston said the Mariners really had little reason to believe that the deal with the Dodgers would not be completed even if there was a bump in the road.

“Usually the player and the club will find some resolution to quickly work through it,” he said.

For Iwakuma there was surprise – and little time for reaction – when the Dodgers came back to him to renegotiate.

“The first thing, obviously, why? What’s going on?” he said. “But before anything could happen the Mariners reached out to me.”

The Mariners had another shot at Iwakuma and they took it, offering a one-year deal with vesting options for 2017 and 2018.

The Associated Press reported that Iwakuma will receive $10 million in salary and a $1 million signing bonus in 2016. The Mariners have $10 million options for 2017 and 2018, with Iwakuma receiving a $1 million buyout if either is declined. The 2017 option becomes guaranteed for $14 million if he pitches 162 innings in 2016. The 2018 option is guaranteed at $15 million if he pitches 162 innings in 2017 or 324 innings combined in ’16 and ’17.

In his four years with Seattle, Iwakuma has pitched seasons of 125, 219, 179 and 129 innings.

Another caveat in the contract for Iwakuma: A full no-trade clause.

Kingston confirmed that the Iwakuma deal took the Mariners well over budget for 2016.

“We traded for Wade Miley thinking that was filling Kuma’s spot. We also signed Steve Cishek and added Adam Lind and reallocated those payroll dollars elsewhere,” he said. “That was a call that needed to be made to Kevin (Mather) and Howard (Lincoln). To ownership’s credit, they allowed us to go beyond what was initially set to bring Iwakuma back.”

The Mariners very well could end up paying more for Iwakuma than their original offer but are protected by the innings needed for the final two years of the contract to vest. After a very interesting path, it appears both sides got what they wanted.

“Sometimes you have to get lucky and you have to have an ownership group that is as giving as this one seems to be,” said Dipoto. “From Howard (Lincoln) to Kevin (Mather) to our ownership group, Nintendo of America, it truly took less than five minutes to get everybody on board with this one. It was very easy to communicate, there was never anything but an absolutely ‘let’s go’ for it. That part is rare. To have a group that’s so fundamentally in line with what they want to do and the people that they trust. We are thrilled with the outcome.”

For Iwakuma, he seems to be relieved to be staying in Seattle.

“I feel like I have always wanted to come back here, that was always in the back of my mind,” said Iwakuma. “A lot of people that I know here in Seattle wanted me to come back. I have a lot of friends here away from baseball and in baseball. We had a lot of guys who texted me, ‘Please come back,’ and that really touched my heart. I want to come back I want to help this team, contribute, and play to my expectations and make it to the World Series.”