After the Los Angeles Dodgers signed former Diamondbacks left-hander Chris Capuano to a two-year, $10 million contract earlier this week, the likelihood of right-hander Hiroki Kuroda being back in the City of Angels wearing Dodger Blue is unlikely.
LA’s rotation appears set for next season without a spot open for Kuroda. Cy Young winner and left-handed stud Clayton Kershaw will head the Dodgers starters with Chad Billingsley, Ted Lilly and Capuano behind him. Youngsters Dana Eveland and Nathan Eovaldi will duke it out for the fifth starters spot.
With the Capuano signing and the Dodgers appearing to move on from Kuroda, the market looks as though it is wide open for him. According to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, the hurler is willing to consider all offers, regardless of which region of the country they are coming from. Kuroda’s former team in Japan is even rumored to have an offer already on the table.
Whether Rosenthal’s report is true or not, Kuroda has said all along that his preference is to stay on the west coast. That would leave the Angels and the Diamondbacks as his two most likely destinations for him. The Halos seem more focused with offense at the moment with their recent trade for catcher Chris Iannetta and their possible interest in Aramis Ramirez to man third.
That means that Kuroda could be the Diamondbacks for the taking. Although the state of Arizona technically isn’t on the west coast, it is a hop, skip and a jump away from California. I should know from personal experience being that I drive there quite frequently to visit my dad.
Adding Kuroda would be a clear upgrade for the third starter’s spot over this past year’s starter Joe Saunders. Saunders is a nice guy to have for your rotation because he eats up innings, but he isn’t the caliber starter that Kuroda has been ever since he came from Japan. Since 2008, the 36-year-old has compiled a very respectable 3.75 ERA and has had 523 strikeouts in just under 700 innings pitched.
Kuroda won’t come cheap though. The Japanese starter would cost Arizona a few more million bucks a year than Saunders would. In my perspective though, it certainly would be well worth the investment. Kuroda would shore up the rest of the rotation and form a very potent 1-2-3 punch with staff ace Ian Kennedy and second starter Daniel Hudson.
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