Yankees Being Yankees: Sign Kuroda to 1-Year Deal

Brian Cashman is teaching Yankees fans a terrible lesson. All winter we have been whining and moaning that the Yankees should not have been sitting quietly on the sidelines while teams like the Angels and Rangers were making dramatic moves to improve. And what did all that whining get us? Well for starters, Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda within the span of a single hour.

Right on the heels of the Pineda/Jesus Montero trade, it is being reported that the Yankees and Kuroda have come to a 1-year deal worth $10M (pending a physical, of course). In four major league seasons Kuroda owns a 3.45 ERA, and in 2011 he posted a 3.07 ERA in 202.0 IP while allowing 69 ER, 24 HR, 49 BB and striking out 161. He’s a sure thing in the rotation, and given his age (37 next month), his price tag and the fact that this deal is only for one year make this a great signing.

So there it is: within an hour the 2012 Yankees rotation went from CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia, AJ Burnett, and Phil Hughes to a rotation that leaves Burnett’s role up in the air and will likely delegate Hughes to a long-relief guy out of the bullpen. With this sudden surplus of starting pitching, it is likely that more moves will be in the works. The Yankees would obviously love to trade Burnett and much of the $33M left on his contract, but it would seem as though Garcia would be an easier guy to unload. Stay tuned!

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