sentences:  Following the 2004 season, Iwakuma's Buffaloes and the Orix BlueWave, another Pacific League team based in the Kansai region, opted to merge to alleviate some of their financial difficulties, later leading to the addition of a new team named the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles that would fill the void created by the merger.Iwakuma was initially named a member of the newly formed Orix Buffaloes in a dispersal draft held that November, but refused to comply and join the Buffaloes and became involved in a contractual dispute.Although the Buffaloes attempted to persuade him to play for their team, they eventually agreed to trade him to the Eagles in exchange for cash.