By Dylan Hernandez/Los Angeles Times


The Los Angeles Dodgers settled on their coaching staff Thursday, but the more important composition of their pitching rotation became even more of a mystery as their agreement with free-agent right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma may be unraveling after his physical examination.
Iwakuma and the Dodgers agreed to a three-year, $45 million contract at baseball’s winter meetings and were expected to formally announce the deal last week. It never happened.
The deal was pending a medical examination in Los Angeles. Japanese news services reported Thursday that the examination uncovered problems and prevented the contract from being completed.
A person familiar with the situation told the Los Angeles Times the Dodgers are still talking to Iwakuma in hopes of signing him. The person spoke under the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations.
The Dodgers could be looking at reworking the deal, much like the Boston Red Sox did with Mike Napoli before the 2013 season. Napoli agreed to a three-year, $39 million deal, but his physical examination revealed problems with his hip. Napoli settled for a one-year contract with a base salary of $5 million.
The Dodgers are looking for the 34-year-old Iwakuma to be the only right-handed starter in a rotation that consists of Clayton Kershaw, Brett Anderson, Alex Wood and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Iwakuma would cost the Dodgers their first-round pick in the draft next year, since the former All-Star rejected a qualifying offer from the Seattle Mariners for $15.8 million.
Uncertainty over Iwakuma’s status probably factored into the Wednesday acquisition of three prospects from the Chicago White Sox who could be part of a package to trade for a young frontline starter such as Jose Fernandez, Sonny Gray or Carlos Carrasco.
The Dodgers will also be paying a refundable $20 million posting fee to negotiate with another Japanese right-hander, Kenta Maeda, according to a person familiar with the team’s thinking. Maeda won the Japanese league’s equivalent of the Cy Young Award this year.
Other free-agent starting pitchers still available include Mike Leake, Yovani Gallardo and Scott Kazmir.
If the deal with Iwakuma falls apart, it would mark the second time this winter the Dodgers had a potential move unexpectedly derailed. Last week, they were set to acquire All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds, only the trade was placed on hold when Chapman became the subject of a domestic-violence investigation by the commissioner’s office.
If there’s any consolation, it’s that manager Dave Roberts’ coaching staff is in place, which will allow the front office to focus on the roster.
Gabe Kapler, who was a finalist for the managerial position, was expected to be part of it. However, Kapler, a longtime favorite of President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman, will remain the farm director.
Holdovers from Don Mattingly’s staff will include pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and catching instructor Steve Yeager. Bullpen catchers Rob Flippo and Steve Cilladi will also return.
The rest of the staff will be newcomers.
Bob Geren, former manager of the Oakland Athletics, will be Roberts’ bench coach. Geren was most recently the bench coach of the New York Mets.
Turner Ward will be the hitting coach, with Tim Hyers serving as assistant hitting coach. Ward used to be the hitting coach of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
With Kapler remaining in the front office, George Lombard will coach first base and Chris Woodward third.
Josh Bard, a former teammate of Roberts on the San Diego Padres, will be the bullpen coach.
Former major league infielder Juan Castro will be in the newly created position of quality assurance coach. The only member of the staff who speaks Spanish, Castro will help Woodward with the infield defense. He will not be in uniform during games.