Hisashi Iwakuma appears to be heading back to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles next season after talks between the right-hander and the Oakland Athletics broke down, a major league source said Monday.
The Athletics, never big spenders on players, have told Iwakuma that they "have no budget" to sign him, according to the player's agent Don Nomura.
"If it ends like this, then I guess they really didn't want me," the 29-year-old Iwakuma said, clearly despondent with the way negotiations have turned out.