Friday, January 6, 2012

The Yankees SHOULD Sign Hiroki Kuroda




I personally think that the Yankees should go out and sign Hiroki Kuroda. Its my personal belief that if the Yankees signed Kuroda that he could potentially be our 3rd best pitcher on the staff as soon as he walks into the room. Now the Yankees seem to have a long term plan in mind to get the payroll down to 184 ish million dollars by 2014, which is going to be tough to attain no matter what they do. Kuroda, surprisingly, fits into this mold PERFECTLY.
Kuroda, unlike CJ Wilson, Buerhle, Edwin Jackson,Yu Darvish, and every other guy out there, will only command a 1 year deal. Kuroda, unlike all those guys mentioned, will not require a No Trade Clause in his contract either which could be a plus in July of 2012. Even at a 12 million dollar salary the Yankees are still doing well to keep with the 2014 plan. I personally believe that the Yankees could sign him for as little as 8-10 million with this dragging out as long as it did but when your the Yankees its not really worth nickel and diming a guy like Kuroda over a couple of million dollars.
The beauty of adding a Kuroda is stability, among other things. Kuroda has , while not throwing out above average numbers in a weaker NL West, been the perfect example of durability and consistency. He is almost a lock for 200 IP and , in the NL West anyway, a 3 point era. You can probably expect to add a full point in ERA , in my opinion, when coming to the AL East but thats still pretty respectable for a 10 million dollar a year pitcher in this market on a 1 year deal. Kuroda adds insurance for if Phil Hughes wets the bed again, Freddy Garcia finally gets figured out or injured again, or AJ Burnett is AJ Burnett. Also he keeps the seat warm for guys like Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances, among others.
Guys like Ivan Nova, Dellin Betances, Manny Banuelos, etc in the starting rotation that perfectly fits our long term plan of slashing payroll by 2014. By then we will still have CC, Nova as a number 2, the Killer B’s, and a veteran in the 5th spot. We can be “cheap” and still be competitive with that in my opinion. Add a David Robertson as a closer instead of a Mariano Rivera and we are well on our way.
Get Greedy Pinstripe Fans…. Get Kuroda

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)