What is the future of Hisashi Iwakuma and the Mariners?

[wazzu31]

Here are some Japanese pitchers off of the top of my head who had success and lasted a while:
Hideo Nomo: Age: 26-34. 3.85 ERA during that span in 1787 innings. He started declining at age 35. From 35 on he had a 7.95 ERA in his remaining 3 seasons in MLB.
Hiroki Kuroda: Age: 33-39. 3.46 ERA during his 1179 innings. Pretty similar pitcher to Iwakuma IMO, currently is 39 and has a 4.55 ERA in 10 starts for the Yankees this year.

It is difficult to measure the shelf life of successful Japanese starting pitchers. I don't think MLB has ever seen Japanese pitchers as successful as Iwakuma, Tanaka or Darvish. I can't think of any Japanese starting pitchers who have been more successful than those two. It could appear that Japanese pitchers have short shelf lives because a lot of them don't reach MLB until they have established themselves in Japan, which can take some time. Darvish, Tanaka and Iwakuma are really breaking new ground for Japanese starting pitchers, even at their best, Nomo and Kuroda were never as good as any of those three.

I would argue that in Iwakuma's 54 MLB starts (2.63 ERA) he has been better than Darvish's 70 MLB starts (3.21 ERA), but you won't hear that from ESPN because Darvish is a much more exciting pitcher to watch and has the ridiculous amount of strikeouts.

I figured that stats would prove my theory wrong, guess it just seems that way Japanese players come over and make an impact then kind of just become another guy.

But the gist was what would Iwakuma ask in terms of an extension. His value with his numbers right now are near Felix type money.

 

[cezero]

That's exactly why I wouldn't want Iwakuma to be traded. Every pitcher the Mariners have traded (with the exception of Vargas) has ended up being a shit deal.

Michael Pineda? Jesus Montero
Cliff Lee? Justin Smoak
Doug Fister? Casper Wells...?
Erik Bedard? Travyon Robinson and a player no longer on the team.
Jarrod Washburn? Luke French and Mauricio Robles.

Despite not being a top tier talent, Washburn had a 2.64 ERA in 20 starts for the Mariners before being shipped to the Tigers. Bedard had a 3.45 ERA in 16 starts.

Trader Z has been swindled quite a few times.

Sure.

If it were a semi-competent front office, I'd be completely in favor of them trying to trade Iwakuma for what we need (a list that is pretty much infinite outside of pitching) during peak trade time next season. That's all I'm saying. If he pitches well enough to keep or trade, he'll be a 35 year-old pitcher who costs a lot. For a competent front office, that's gold when it comes to trading.

And only if Paxton/Walker pan out or some other pitcher comes in and does well.

 

[johnson]

M's are still in the race and have to be tempted to make a packaged move if it can land two upgrades (one major, one minor) in the lineup. I don't think you trade The Bear for just one...he's just too good.

Loved watching the M's sweep the Yankees. My Jays just sent one back your way with a sweep of the A's. But you gotta win more against the Astros, lol. Go M's!