Yankees Should Consider Bringing Hiroki Kuroda Back

His career as a Yankees began three years ago and it wasn’t as a high priced blockbuster acquisition. Hiroki Kuroda signed with the Yankees to be a number four or five starter and fans were skeptical after he put up some undesirable numbers back with the Dodgers. But what started out as a signing with possible upside turned into one of the Yankees most consistent pitcher for the next two seasons.

When 2013 rolled around C.C. Sabathia faltered, Andy Pettitte looked worn out, Ivan Nova struggled with inconsistencies and Phil Hughes was the American League’s punching bag. In the midst of such a collectively awful pitching performance, Kuroda pitched so well that he put himself in the early discussion for the American League Cy Young Award.

But a 4.25 ERA in the second half eliminated any chances of that happening.

After much speculation about him resigning or retiring Kuroda returned and the elder states man was the only pitcher in the rotation who was not injured during the season. After lowing his second half ERA to 3.16 this season the Yankees may want to consider bring him back for a fourth season hoping for him to capitalize on the success he’s had in the Bronx over the last three years.

The Yankees pitching rotation is getting younger. With Masahiro Tanaka, who will be 26 on Opening Day, leading the charge along with the soon to be 26 year olds Michael Pineda and Shane Greene and the eventual return of  Nova (He’ll be 28) the team has a lot of options to choose from. Throw in someone like top prospect Luis Severino (20) and the possible return of Brandon McCarthy (31) and one of the big free agent starters (Jon Lester, Max Scherzer and James Shields) and the older wild card of Sabathia (34) and the team will probably have no worries regarding starting pitching.

Even with the possibility of a six man rotation looming there isn’t much room for Kuroda who will be 40 on Opening Day. But as we saw this year everything can fall apart very quickly and the Yankees were set scrambling for viable arms. Could they decide to load up on arms and perhaps stash Greene in the minors for the time being?

Here are the Yankees top options with their 2014 statistics (Only including the big 3 free agent pitchers along with Brandon McCarthy and Kuroda):

• Masahiro Tanaka  13-4  2.47 ERA
• Michael Pineda  4-5  1.93 ERA
• Shane Greene  5-4  3.78 ERA
• C.C. Sabathia  3-4  5.28 ERA
• Ivan Nova  2-2  8.27 ERA
• Brandon McCarthy  7-5  2.89 ERA  *Free Agent To Be*
• Luis Severino (Minors) 6-5  2.46 ERA
• Jon Lester  16-11  2.46 ERA  *Free Agent To Be*
• Max Scherzer  18-5  3.19 ERA *Free Agent To Be*
• James Shields  14-8  3.21 ERA *Free Agent To Be*
• Hiroki Kuroda 11-9  3.71 ERA *Free Agent To Be*

While the Yankees do have a lot of people to choose from they found out this year that pitching depth is something that can’t be taken for granted. Kuroda has managed to stay healthy and despite his ups and downs during the season he was the lone survivor in a rotation that was riddled with injuries. Kuroda and the Yankees have played it by ear the past few seasons with the native of Japan contemplating retirement or a possible return to the Nippon Professional Baseball league in Japan after both the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

Kuroda has maybe been the most successful pitcher ever to come over from Japan (Although the likes of Yu Darvish and Tanaka may take that title later on) and while he’s never been among the league’s best pitchers he’s the type of player that any fan base would be happy to have on their club.

The ultimate decision for the Yankees will rely on a lot of factors. Is  Tanaka good to go? Can they count on  Greene and  Pineda? When will  Nova return and how good will he be? What is C.C. going to be? Do they take a chance on the young Severino? Can they resign  McCarthy and count on him for 30 starts? Will they be able to bring in a Lester or a Scherzer or a Shields? Has Kuroda had enough? Does he want to return to Japan?

There’s a whole lot to consider and the Yankees will probably entertain fans with another big off season. They have to evaluate all their options before making any moves and Kuroda will likely remain in the conversation. One thing is for certain and that is that Kuroda will always be welcomed warmly by the fans in the Bronx.