Yankees ink Kuroda

[love_that_reefer]

Yankees Agree To Terms With Hiroki Kuroda: MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com

The Yankees have agreed to a one-year contract with Hiroki Kuroda, pending a physical, tweets Jack Curry of the YES Network (Twitter link). The deal will pay Kuroda $10MM, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. Kuroda is represented by the Octagon agency.

Kuroda was originally looking for a one-year deal worth $13-$14MM for next season, but recently dropped his asking price and was sending feelers out to the Yankees and Red Sox. Olney reports that Kuroda's salary was an "extra expenditure" approved by ownership, so the club will not have to move a similar salary in order to fit the team's payroll.

Kuroda turns 37 in February and comes to the American League after four years of pitching for the Dodgers. Kuroda has pitched at least 183 innings in three of his four years in the Majors and his career numbers include a 3.45 ERA, a 3.29 K/BB ratio and a 48.6% ground ball rate that should ease his transition from Dodger Stadium to Yankee Stadium. (Kuroda's career home/away splits are also virtually identical.)

Between Kuroda and the newly-acquired Michael Pineda, a once-shaky Yankees pitching staff has been overhauled and improved in just one day. C.C. Sabathia, Pineda, Kuroda and Ivan Nova project as the top four, with Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett and Freddy Garcia fighting for the fifth spot in the rotation.

So in one day the Yankees went from a mediocre rotation to a top five rotation in the AL. Kuroda for only $10 million is a great deal too. He will have to make adjustments facing an extra batter and playing in a hitter's park but he should still have an ERA under 4. Good moves by the Yankees!

[Kingdom]

Scary.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

I don't like this deal. Now it means we'll probably trade Hughes or one of our prospects and I don't like that one bit. The only way this could work out is if Cashman finds a suitor for Burnett. If he does that, he's a miracle worker and I might go hug him personally. Because then we'd have a rotation of CC, Kuroda, Nova, Pineda, Hughes with Garcia in the wings, and that is just a thing of beauty.

[love_that_reefer]

I'll take Kuroda over Burnett and Hughes. With Hughes' arm problems, he might be best used in the pen.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

I still think Hughes is a very viable starter. You're right about Burnett though

[love_that_reefer]

I know it's a limited sample size but Hughes ERA as a starter is 4.90 with a 7.0 K/9. As a reliever, his ERA is 1.44 with a 11.2 K/9. Something to think about.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

I'm just worried they're going to dick him around like they did with Joba and ruin him. I'd rather they just kept him as a solid 3/4 starter and develop his command. When he's on, he can mow down any lineup for 6 innings. Just needs to work on being consistent.

[Kingdom]

I know it's a limited sample size but Hughes ERA as a starter is 4.90 with a 7.0 K/9. As a reliever, his ERA is 1.44 with a 11.2 K/9. Something to think about.

And man could he be so dominate at times as a reliever. I hate the Empire as much as anyone but whenever he had that nice year out of the pen, he was fun to watch. Now excuse me while I pour bleach on my hands for typing this

[love_that_reefer]

I'm just worried they're going to dick him around like they did with Joba and ruin him. I'd rather they just kept him as a solid 3/4 starter and develop his command. When he's on, he can mow down any lineup for 6 innings. Just needs to work on being consistent.

They did screw Joba up but I think they did by making him a starter after dominating in the setup role. He should have stayed in the setup but his poor mechanics finally caught up with him. Hughes I think should go back to the bullpen and stay as well. Hughes could be the long man or setup in my view. Good guy to have in that already good bullpen.

[realmofotalk]

in the meantime, here’s some various combinations of 2012 dodgers that will add up to $10m:

Juan uribe ($8m) + matt treanor ($0.85m) + adam kennedy ($0.8m) + mike macdougal ($0.65m) = $10.3m

juan rivera ($4m) + aaron harang ($3m) + mark ellis ($2.5m) + tony gwynn ($0.85m) = $10.35m

matt guerrier ($4.75m) + chris capuano ($3m) + jerry hairston ($2.25m) = $10m

that doesn’t take into account, of course, that many of those are the lower-priced first year of a two-year deal which will increase in 2013

fml.

[Mach]

Stoked about Kuroda, he was the guy I wanted FA SP wise. Wilson would have been nice too, but I doubt he signs so cheap with us.