Hiroki Kuroda sign on one year $15 million contract with New York Yankees – MLB Update
Free agent starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda has agreed to a one year $15 million contract with the New York Yankees, reports a leading sports website. According to sources, Yankees wanted to retain Kuroda to fill the Number two starting spot behind ace C.C.
Sabathia. Kuroda rejected the $13.3 million qualifying offer earlier from the Yankees, which would have enabled the team to gain a draft pick but that did not turn out to be the case.
Kuroda had a great time on the mound as he finished 16-11 with a decent 3.32 ERA. Only Andy Pettitte had better ERA than him among New York’s starters. He led the team with 33 starts and 219 plus innings. However, what separated him from his peers was his
ability to play his natural game under pressure.
According to sources, Kuroda wanted to finish his career in Japan but Yankees’ offer was too good to be refused and he decided to stay with them for one more year. Yankees also want to re-sign Pettitte and closer Mariano Rivera. The veteran starting pitcher
Pettitte is expected to make the decision on his future by the Thanksgiving Day. Rivera, on the other hand, is likely to sign on a contract extension before the winter ball.
"I am very happy and excited to re-sign with the Yankees," Kuroda said in a statement. "I am very grateful for all of the interest and all of the offers that I received from the various teams that courted me. It was a tough decision for me to make, but at
the end of the day, I wanted to try to win a championship with the teammates that I went to battle with last season.”
Other teams that showed interest in Kuroda include Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox but the Japanese right hander preferred to stay in the Bronx. Kuroda played four seasons with the Los Angeles Angels before moving to New York last
year. He was on a $10 million base salary and made $1 million as performance base incentives. It will be interesting to see if he improves his numbers in the next season to end his MLB career on a bright note.
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