Report: Los Angeles Dodgers add Hisashi Iwakuma for three years

The Dodgers have added Hisashi Iwakuma.

The Los Angeles Dodgers made news this week by not being the high bidder on Zack Greinke. They brought back Chase Utley on Sunday and are reportedly in the mix for Aroldis Chapman. Andrew Freidman is as creative of a GM as there is in the game, and even though the pitcher they just added isn’t Greinke good, he’s still pretty good.

The Dodgers have inked Hisashi Iwakuma away from the Seattle Mariners for the next three years, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman.

The Dodgers needed another arm –especially right-handed– in the rotation, and may still look to add. Behind Clayton Kershaw they have Brett Anderson, who took the qualifying offer but has a history of injuries. Hyun-Jin Ryu was hurt last season and Brandon McCarthy is recovering from Tommy John surgery. The only other right-handed starting option they have is Mike Bolsinger; not exactly Greinke.

Iwakuma started 20 games last season, going 9-5 with a 3.54 ERA including a no-hitter. In 129.2 innings, he gave up 117 hits and struck out 111 batters. He will turn 35 in April.

Is Iwakuma Greinke? No. However, the Dodgers may benefit from taking the money they may have spent on Greinke and buying multiple players with it to give them extra depth. Taking $34 million and spreading it around to Iwakuma and a couple of other pieces may help the team.

Look for the Dodgers to add another arm and, who knows, maybe even two this off-season, possibly even during the Winter Meetings this week.