Rumor: Dodgers sign Hiroki Kuroda

[AmarilloRed]

Dodgers Sign Hiroki Kuroda?

Just got a good tip that Hiroki Kuroda has chosen the Dodgers. More details should be forthcoming.

I copied this from mlbtraderumors.com. It should be interesting to hear some more details.

[*BaseClogger*]

Dodgers Sign Hiroki Kuroda?

Just got a good tip that Hiroki Kuroda has chosen the Dodgers. More details should be forthcoming.

I copied this from mlbtraderumors.com. It should be interesting to hear some more details.

hey Amarillo,

do you read mlbtraderumors.com?:D

[AmarilloRed]

It is a long off-season. I try and find news where I can. I do take the trade speculation with a grain of salt, however:)

[*BaseClogger*]

It is a long off-season. I try and find news where I can. I do take the trade speculation with a grain of salt, however:)

Well, thank you for opening my eyes to that sight. I have checked it everyday of the offseaon:)

[Bip Roberts]

Hes going to be a huge bust

[TheWalls]

Awwww, I was hoping the Cubs would waaaaayyy overpay for him.

[AmarilloRed]

Dodgers HAVE NOT signed Hiroki Kuroda

So far, anyway. This despite media reports out of Japan that he has settled on the Dodgers, reports that are being denied on this side of the Pacific. However, it is beginning to appear -- based on what few details I have been able to unearth -- that he is leaning STRONGLY toward the Dodgers over Seattle ... and that the decison is coming soon. Very soon.

Just filed this notebook for tomorrow's paper. So if you're reading it tonight, just change all the todays to tomorrows.

By Tony Jackson
Staff Writer
Despite published reports out of Japan on Tuesday that free-agent right-hander Hiroki Kuroda had decided to sign with the Dodgers, general manager Ned Colletti and Asian operations director Acey Kohrogi both said they had no knowledge of such a development. But in what might be a telling sign, Kuroda has scrapped plans for what would have amounted to a recruiting trip to Los Angeles, Seattle and Phoenix this week and instead will decide from Japan which U.S. team he wants to pitch for.
That decision, which is believed to have been narrowed to the Dodgers and Mariners, could come as early as today, a Japanese source said.
Steve Hilliard, Kuroda's San Diego-based agent, didn't return a message left at his office from the Daily News.
Both the Dodgers and Mariners have made three-year offers to Kuroda, who spent the past 11 seasons with the Hiroshima Carp of the Japanese Central League. Chugoku Shimbun, a Hiroshima-based newspaper, reported that the Dodgers had increased their offer to four years and $40 million, but a source close to the club flatly denied that report.
The Mariners' latest offer is believed to be slightly higher ($33 million) than that of the Dodgers (about $30 million). Still, Kuroda reportedly is leaning toward the Dodgers for a variety of reasons.
Kuroda has a close friendship with Dodgers closer Takashi Saito, and the two are represented in Japan by the same Osaka-based sports agency. Former major-league reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa, a close advisor to Kuroda, has a home in Orange County. And finally, Los Angeles has a bigger Asian population than Seattle and theoretically would offer Kuroda more lucrative endorsement opportunities, possibly in tandem with Saito.
However, the Mariners clearly need Kuroda more than the Dodgers, whose winterlong search for another starting pitcher belies the fact they already have five starters with proven track records. The Mariners' desperation could push them to increase their offer, in terms of both dollars and years. That might be enough to lure Kuroda to Seattle because it isn't clear whether the Dodgers are prepared to follow suit.
Another possible factor: Washington has no state income tax, which in real terms makes the difference between the Dodgers' and Mariners' current offers more than $1 million annually.
If the Dodgers do end up with Kuroda, he would be slotted somewhere in the middle of a rotation that already includes Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley, Esteban Loaiza and what club officials hope will be a healthy Jason Schmidt. One of those five would then go to the bullpen or be traded.

If the Dodgers do sign Kuroda, that would effective eliminate them as one of the teams that would trade for Bedard.

[fadetoblack2880]

Hes going to be a huge bust

I agree. Wasn't the Yankees Matsui supposed to be some super homerun hitter in Japan? I know he hits a few, but it seems they made him out to be a Ryan Howard type of power hitter. Kuroda will be the same...

[Bip Roberts]

I agree. Wasn't the Yankees Matsui supposed to be some super homerun hitter in Japan? I know he hits a few, but it seems they made him out to be a Ryan Howard type of power hitter. Kuroda will be the same...

hes a pitcher

[fadetoblack2880]

hes a pitcher

Ah. I don't follow the Japanese stuff. I was thinking of that other guy I guess.

[AmarilloRed]

Kuroda hasn't made mind up yet

Posted by Geoff Baker at 07:30 PM

There is a hot rumor out there on the internet tonight that Japanese free-agent Hiroki Kuroda has made his decision and that the Los Angeles Dodgers are about to announce they've signed him.

Not true.

Just spent the past half hour making a flurry of phone calls and I can tell you that nothing has been decided. In fact, it could be several days more before anything gets done. As of right now, no decision has been made -- to sign with the Dodgers or anyone else. This, despite a report out of Japan on sanspo.com suggesting he was off to Los Angeles, as well as multiple reports that Kuroda has cancelled plans to tour prospective MLB cities this week.

As far as we know, it's still between the Mariners, Dodgers and the Diamondbacks. As of today, the D-Backs upped their monetary offer to Kuroda and negotiations are still in what one source described to me as "a delicate stage" with all suitors. Kuroda does appear to be leaning towards either the Dodgers or Mariners, and the word all day today was that the decision could come down tomorrow.

But even that, as of minutes ago, remains uncertain, as the negotiating continues. This report out of Kansas City tonight suggests the Royals want to fly to Japan for a last-ditch bid to sign Kuroda. Might they be willing to go as high as four years on a deal? Like I said, this saga might continue for a few days.

So, don't start the hand-wringing just yet.