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08:18 AM ET 12.27 | According to a recent report, more than a few teams are interested in Hisashi Iwakuma, the A's among them. [While] I had it confirmed that Oakland is one of the four teams to have inquired about the Japanese pitcher, the A's are "lukewarm" about Iwakuma. I'm told that there are two teams with "viable" interest in Iwakuma, and the A's aren't one of them. It would have been a neat full circle, though, if Oakland were to have landed the right-hander. The A's won the bidding for Iwakuma's posting fee last winter but were unable to come to terms with Iwakuma and his then-agent, Don Nomura, after negotiations that were at times testy. Iwakuma missed time last season with a shoulder injury, and he is now a free agent.

Bob Melvin, Icon Sports

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December 27, 2011 09:40 AM ET

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Just what everyone wants - a 30 year old refugee from the AAAA japanese league with a sore shoulder.

The Moose

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December 27, 2011 11:21 AM ET

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"Viable" means that the team didn't hang up on a cold call from Iwakuma's agent.

Hatrunner

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December 27, 2011 12:00 PM ET

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what???

alacran

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December 27, 2011 02:07 PM ET

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The A's r Lucky that they didn't sign him last year, they are probably luckier is they stay this year as well!!

Not4Nutten

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December 27, 2011 11:18 PM ET

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Seems the owners or more interested in building a stadium than a professional team. Sad when fans have to root for real estate deals instead of baseball.