A’s Sign IF Akinori Iwamura

The Oakland A’s, who have been without regular 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff for quite some time, have announced that they’ve signed veteran IF Akinori Iwamura to a contract. The 31-year-old, who was released by Pittsburgh, has had some experience at third, and at second-base. The A’s addition of Iwamura is a good one, defensively, but offensively, not so much.

Iwamura hit just .182 with the Pirates in 52 games before being optioned to Triple-A. Iwamura will be with the A’s on Monday in Kansas City, as the A’s begin their six-game road trip. Kevin Kouzmanoff, meanwhile, is still improving, but his lower back pain is not completely gone. The A’s 3B was hitting .256/.291/.404  prior to his injury, and leads the team in HR (14) and RBIs (69).