Red Sox Rumors: Hiroki Kuroda, Low-Cost Starters
By Editorial Staff
Yesterday it was reported by ESPN’s Jim Bowden that the Boston Red Sox were nearing a deal with free agent starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda. These reports were later shot down and labeled inaccurate, with a certain source of WEEI.com’s Alex Speier calling them “baseless”. While the Red Sox and Kuroda do not appear to be nearing an agreement, Nick Carfado of the Boston Globe reports Boston remains on the prowl for low-cost pitching.
This weekend Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington made it clear that he was looking to add inexpensive starting pitchers this winter. Cherington hopes this will increasing the competition pool vying for the final two spots in Boston’s 2012 rotation.
So far this offseason, the Red Sox have inked Carlos Silva, Aaron Cook and Justin Germano to inexpensive deals. Still, Carfado notes that the Red Sox are “trying to come up with more options to bring into spring training” along with the three arms they’ve already acquired.
Luckily for the Red Sox, finding a starter on the cheap shouldn’t prove difficult this winter. Carfado lists Boston’s possible players of interest: Brandon Webb, Scott Kazmir, Armando Galarraga, Jon Garland, Rich Harden, Clay Hensley, Livan Hernandez, Brad Penny, Joel Pineiro, Jeff Francis, Zach Duke, Bartolo Colon and the ageless wonder Tim Wakefield.
Buster Olney of ESPN reported yesterday that there is a feeling around baseball that there are good “value buys” to be had on the starting pitching market. For this reason, Cherington and the Sox should be able to find the low-cost arm(s) they covet.
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You can check out all of the available free agents by position below.