I’ll be honest, I was very skeptical when the Yankees and Hiroki Kuroda agreed to a one-year,
$10-million contract in January. Just as David
Fine wrote in August, I wasn’t too confident in a 37-year-old starter who
had one winning record in four years in the National League West.
But I couldn’t have been more wrong. The right-hander proved
to be one of the Yankees’ most consistent starters over the course of 2012.
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| (Newsday) |
Season Assessment: Kuroda
was streaky through his first month and a half. He shut out the Angels over
eight strong innings in his second start on Apr. 13, but allowed seven earned
runs – by way of three home runs – in Toronto on May 16. However, after that
loss to the Blue Jays, Kuroda was charged with five or more earned runs in just
two of his 25 starts the rest of the year.
Over those 25 starts, Kuroda never left a game before the
sixth inning and never walked more than three batters in an outing. He had two
10-strikeout games and completed three games – including a two-hit shutout
against Texas on Aug. 14. He was phenomenal in June, going 4-1 with a 1.98 ERA,
a WHIP of exactly 1, and a BAA of .211. Kuroda’s August WHIP was 0.87 and he
lasted at least eight innings in his last four starts of the month.
In Game 3 of the ALDS – Kuroda’s first playoff start since
2009 – Kuroda continued to throw the ball well. Pitching into the ninth inning,
he held the Orioles to two runs and kept the Yankees in the game long enough
for Raul Ibanez’s late-game heroics.
In Game 2 of the ALCS, Kuroda took a perfect game into the sixth inning,
striking out 11 Tigers. He went seven and two-thirds and allowed three earned
runs but – like many other Yankee starters this postseason – he didn’t get any
run support from the offense in Yankee Stadium’s last game of the season.
This was only Kuroda’s fifth career season (not including
his 11 years in Japan) but he set plenty of career-highs and finished in the
top-10 in many American League categories- 16 wins (tied for sixth), 3.32 ERA
(eighth), 219.2 IP (fourth), 1.17 WHIP (eighth), 2.09 BB/9 (sixth) and 279 ground
outs (third).
Offseason Outlook: Kuroda
was one of the three players who received a qualifying offer of $13.3 million
from the Yankees and he has until Friday to accept or decline the offer. Should
he decline, other teams might be less inclined to pursue him, at the risk of
losing a draft pick. Regardless, the Dodgers, Padres and Royals are rumored to
have interest in the right-hander.
However, Kuroda reportedly wishes to eventually return to
Japan to finish out his career. If he does stay in the MLB this season, he will
be looking for a short-term contract to keep his options open for the future. There
is a chance he will accept the Yankees offer, since it’ll be a raise of $3.3
million and a one-year deal. He could also decline it in hopes of asking the
Yankees for a little more money, if he so chooses.
By extending the qualifying offer to Kuroda, Brian Cashman appears to be interested
– as he should be – in bringing the 16-game winner back to New York. But if
Kuroda declines the offer and is still open to returning, it’ll be interesting
to see how much extra money and/or years Cashman is willing to commit to the
starter.
Aside from CC
Sabathia, not much else in the Yankees’ projected 2013 rotation is without
question. Andy Pettitte is mulling
retirement again and some trade speculation surrounds Phil Hughes. Ivan Nova
didn’t pitch well enough to make the playoff roster. Michael Pineda won’t be ready to pitch until June the earliest and David Phelps started just 11 games in
his rookie season.
Considering how uncertain the rotation is at the moment,
re-signing Kuroda makes plenty of sense. As long as Kuroda is willing to sign a
one or two-year contract for a reasonable amount of money, I say bring him
back.
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