Kuroda Forsakes Yankee Bucks for Home

Based on an article by Brendan Kuty on NJ.com and a Japanese Times Report, there is no place like home for former Yankee pitcher Hiroki Kuroda. After the Yankees paid Kuroda $16 million on a one-year contract in 2014, the 39 year-old right hander has, according to reports, accepted terms that will pay in approximately $3.7 million to pitch closer to home for the Hiroshima Carp in the Nippon Baseball League.

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In 2014, a year in which the Yankee pitching staff was unsteady at best, Kuroda was a workhorse, throwing 199 innings going 11-9 with a 3.71 ERA. In three years with the Yanks, all on one year contracts, he was 38-34 with an ERA 3.44 and in a seven year MLB career (four with the Dodgers), was 79-79 with a 3.45 ERA.  Kuroda has reportedly made $88million in his time in the MLB.

Back in April, Fox Sports Ken Rosenthal reported the Yanks almost couldn’t bring Kuroda back for the 2014 season:

"The pitcher’s wife and three young daughters live in Los Angeles, but friends say it wasn’t the separation so much that bothered him; his family joins him in New York in the summer, after school lets out. It’s simply that Kuroda loves and misses Japan."

Based on a Jay Jaffe article in SI.com, Kuroda came stateside after starring with the Carp, going 103-89 with a 3.45 ERA during his 11 seasons and earning a Best Nine Award in 2005, as well as an ERA title the following season. He had re-signed with the Carp via a four-year deal after the 2006 season, foregoing free agency in exchange for the right to negotiate with a major league team at any time during the deal, but without going through the posting process. After the Carp went 60-82 en route to a fifth-place finish in the six-team JCL in 2007, he announced his desire to depart, and soon signed a three-year, $35.3 million deal with the Dodgers.

Reports were that the Yankees had discussed asking Kuroda back for $12-$13 million this year to again act as the fulcrum of the staff, but it seems that the time has come to click the heels of his ruby cleats three times and head back where he started.   This leaves the Yankees with a pitching staff of question marks looking for someone to pick up the slack and make about 25 quality starts and take the ball every fifth day.