Hiroki Kuroda Rumors: Yankees, Red Sox Pursuing Starter
By Editorial Staff
The weekend of Christmas is upon us and the market for available starting pitchers continues to diminish. While the list of arms to be had may be shrinking, the number of teams in search for pitching remains high. Yesterday, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported that the Red Sox, Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles, Rockies, Marlins and Tigers all are still looking to add pitching this winter. With few viable options remaining, it appears that the Yankees and Red Sox have turned their attention to free agent right-hander Hiroki Kuroda.
Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports is reporting that, now that Kuroda is saying he is willing to sign outside of California, the Yankees and Red Sox have increased their pursuit of the 36-year-old.
Both clubs entered the offseason seeking rotation depth. There are questions beyond the Red Sox starting three of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, and the Yankees are still carrying the inconsistent Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett in their projected rotation.
Kuroda would offer each club more of a sure thing to plug into their starting staff. While Kuroda has compiled his numbers with the Dodgers in the National League West, he has proven to be one of the more reliable starters in the majors over the past few seasons.
In his four years with the Dodgers, Kuroda maintained an ERA of 3.45 over his 699 innings pitched. The right-hander logged 183 1/3 frames or more in three of his four seasons and sports a career WHIP of 1.187. Last season, Kuroda made 32 starts spanning 202 innings while posting an ERA and WHIP of 3.07 and 1.213.
For more on the Yankees and Red Sox, be sure to check out Yanks Go Yard and BoSox Injection.
You can check out all of the available free agents by position below.