Results tagged ‘ Hiroki Kuroda ’
Yankees ready for first full-squad workout
It felt like Penn Station at rush hour in the clubhouse at George M. Steinbrenner Field this morning, as the group of 84 83 players in camp collided with the much-larger-than-usual media group assigned to chronicle the first full squad workout for the 2013 Yankees.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi cleared the room at 9:40 a.m. to take the stage for his introductory speech to the players, and Girardi said that he would probably stick to a basic script as he addressed the roster.
“The message is, let’s get better,” Girardi said. “I mean, that’s the bottom line. Let’s get prepared and let’s get better. That’s what we’re here for.”
With all of the pitchers and position players in camp, and exhibition games quickly approaching, the facility will be busy today. Hiroki Kuroda threw a bullpen this morning, and the main event will be the eight hitting groups will be rotating through the batting cage on the main field. I’m most interested to watch infield Group 1, comprised of Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Travis Hafner and Eduardo Nunez.
Jeter has been hitting in the batting cages across the street at the Minor League complex for a while, but he hasn’t taken many – if any – swings on the field this spring. Today also might be Jeter’s first attempt to run on grass or dirt, advancing from the treadmill, so that bears watching, as does any defensive work he might do.
Later in the day, Robinson Cano and Ichiro Suzuki will also take turns handling the media in the tent outside the stadium, so we should have more updates to share then.
It’s decision day for Soriano, Swisher, Kuroda
Today will be an important day for the Yankees’ winter planning, as they’ll know by 5 p.m. ET how Rafael Soriano, Nick Swisher and Hiroki Kuroda are responding to their qualifying offers of one year at $13.3 million.
No one expects Swisher to accept the offer, not with the lure of a multi-year deal out there. The New York Daily News reports that Swisher already has five teams interested in his services, including the Mariners and Rangers.
It’s thought that agent Scott Boras will also encourage Soriano to decline the offer. But there has been speculation that Kuroda might accept his, which represents a healthy raise from the $10 million he earned this season. The Yankees definitely would like to have Kuroda back in their rotation next year.
It’s important to note that Kuroda’s options are not, apparently, limited to just the Yankees and going back to Japan. Kuroda told the Los Angeles Times‘ Dylan Hernandez, “I never said anything like that,” so we might want to consider the Dodgers as being part of the mix for Kuroda’s services as well.
- The Marlins have hired Tino Martinez as their new hitting coach. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman granted permission for Miami to talk to Martinez, who had been serving as a special assistant to Cashman. The Red Sox also reportedly showed interest in hiring Martinez.
- Interesting stuff from the New York Post‘s Joel Sherman from the GM Meetings: according to his source, Robinson Cano already feels like he has given the Yankees one hometown discount (the six-year, $57 million pact that will expire after 2013) and now he’s going to in the market for much bigger dollars. Cano has reportedly told teammates he is expecting a 10-year contract. After all, you don’t switch agents to Boras if you’re not planning on a big pay day down the road.
- Looking for a good, lengthy read on this Friday morning? The New York Times’ David Waldstein spent some time catching up with Russell Martin in Montreal, and the story provides some terrific insight into the mind of a player whose season has just ended.
CC: I want Pettitte, Kuroda back next year
CC Sabathia said this afternoon at Yankee Stadium that he has been texting with Andy Pettitte about returning to the Yankees in 2013, and also hopes Hiroki Kuroda will be back in the rotation next season:
“I’m lobbying hard to try to get ‘Titte’ (ed. note: pronounced “tea-tay”) to come back. Hopefully Hiro comes back. He was our most consistent pitcher all year. Hopefully he comes back and does great for us again. I definitely, for my own selfish reasons, want Andy to come back. He’s somebody to talk to, he helps me out a lot being a lefty that’s pitching in this league for a long time. Hopefully he does.”
Pettitte said after the ALCS that he’d need about a month to make up his mind, while Kuroda could be locked up by Friday – the Yankees made a $13.3 million qualifying offer to him that he can accept or reject. Sabathia said he has been trying to get a feel for Pettitte’s mindset.
“I know he’s hanging out with his family enjoying that time right now. It’s not time to put the full court press on him yet. A few texts on a couple of Sundays, talking about football and throwing in, ‘Have you decided yet?’ We’ll see what happens.”
X-rays negative on Hiroki Kuroda’s left foot
Yankees right-hander Hiroki Kuroda had X-rays performed on his left foot during Friday’s Subway Series game against the Mets, which were negative. The hurler was diagnosed with a contusion.
Kuroda was hit on the foot by Daniel Murphy’s seventh-inning liner, which ricocheted to Alex Rodriguez at third base on the fly for an out. The play completed Kuroda’s stellar one-hit performance, in which he walked one and struck out seven.
Joe Girardi said that he is “somewhat concerned” about Kuroda making his next start, but Kuroda believes he’ll be able to. He left the Stadium wearing a wrap and using crutches.
Kuroda: “I hope people will be rooting for the Yankees”
Suffice it to say that tonight’s game between the Yankees and Rangers will play on a big stage in Japan.
Hiroki Kuroda and Yu Darvish are going head-to-head, and even though they technically don’t have to face each other, try telling that to the large crowds that will be tuning in on what will be a morning dose of baseball overseas.
“I try not to think about it,” Kuroda said yesterday. “I don’t want to make it any bigger than it is.”
Darvish is something of a curiosity at this point, even as his adjustment to the big leagues is continuing, and Joe Girardi wondered aloud if his fastball would get on hitters more quickly than expected or if it’d be about what the Yankees anticipate.
Darvish has an immense following — Kuroda called him one of the greatest pitchers Japan has ever produced. Kuroda chuckled when I asked him whom he thinks more people in Japan will be rooting for tonight.
“I really don’t know,” he said. “I hope people will be rooting for the Yankees.”
Martin will welcome Kuroda to Bronx
Good stuff from Anthony McCarron in today’s New York Daily News on new Yankees right-hander Hiroki Kuroda. McCarron reached Bombers catcher Russell Martin, who offered good reviews of their time together with the Dodgers and said that he’s excited to have Kuroda as a batterymate again.
“He can pitch, man,” Martin said in a recent telephone interview. “When he’s really on, his splitty is on. It gets him out of trouble. He can throw his fastball at 94 or 95 (miles per hour), though he’s mostly at 92 or 93, so it’s impressive. His slider is different, a really short break. It’s not a strikeout pitch, but it gets a lot of balls off the end of the bat, and his splitty is nasty against lefties or righties.”
Martin mentions to McCarron that in 2008, the Dodgers had Kuroda wear an Elvis Presley outfit to take part in an ‘American Idol’-themed rookie hazing.
“He performed in front of all the guys and embraced it,” Martin said, chuckling at the memory. “He was a veteran from Japan, but he put his ego behind him and had fun with it. I don’t know if he knew all the lyrics, but he got after it.
“That’s who he is — quiet at first, then you get to know him and he’s hilarious and then on the mound it’s total focus and concentration. He was a great teammate, I love that guy and I was extremely happy that we’ve got him now.”
Cashman: We could trade for a DH
In a conference call with reporters discussing the Michael Pineda trade on Monday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that he’d be more inclined to trade from his pitching depth to acquire a designated hitter than to sign one on the open free agent market.
When the Yankees officially announce the signing of right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, they’ll have seven starters vying for five spots. CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Pineda, Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett and Freddy Garcia are also in that mix.
“Maybe I use our excess pitching to find a bat,” Cashman said. “That’s a possibility. … We stretched the payroll to get [Kuroda] done, so I’m not sure what we have financially. I think we’ll look at the trade market first and foremost and see where that takes us.”
Among the DH options out there, the Yankees have reportedly heard from Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Vladimir Guerrero and Raul Ibanez, but are not thought to consider any of them an urgent priority.
“I think [the free agent market] would be secondary,” Cashman said. “Not that any of those players aren’t quality, but I do think it’s probably in our interest to first and foremost see what’s available in the trade market, because we have excess starter. There should be a demand and an interest at the various levels in our starting pitching that might prove beneficial.”
If the season started today, the Yankees would likely go with Andruw Jones as their DH, though they are curious about Minor League slugger Jorge Vazquez.
Bobby V. weighs in on Yankees moves
This shouldn’t be a surprise, but new Red Sox manager and noted sandwich wrap inventor Bobby Valentine wasn’t exactly turning cartwheels this morning over the Yankees’ moves to acquire Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda. That didn’t stop Valentine from weighing in, as Ian Browne passes along:
“Pineda, when I saw him the first half, he looked unhittable,” Valentine said. “Second half, he looked OK. [The Mariners] saw a lot of him and they traded him. Kuroda is a good pitcher [but] a year older than he was last year [and] pitching in the American League and not the National League.
“[Going from] pitching in not a great pitchers ballpark from a great pitchers ballpark. They’re probably an upgrade from [Bartolo] Colon and [Freddy] Garcia. Probably, I don’t know. It seems it.”
Report: Yankees discussing Edwin Jackson
The Yankees are balking at a high asking price for the Cubs’ Matt Garza and have instead turned their attention to free agent right-hander Edwin Jackson, CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman reported Tuesday.
Noting that the Yankees and Jackson “aren’t in any way close to a deal,” Heyman suggests that New York and agent Scott Boras could eventually find middle ground. Boras has been reported to be looking for a four or five year pact for Jackson worth approximately $15 million per season.
That could prove too high for the Yankees, who have been preaching fiscal responsibility this winter and would not get involved with free agents C.J. Wilson or Mark Buehrle, despite their stated need for a starting pitcher to slot behind CC Sabathia in the rotation.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post noted on Tuesday that the Yankees like Jackson, but not enough to give him a big multi-year contract. They’d be more inclined to offer Hiroki Kuroda a one-year contract, but even that is too costly for their budget at the time.
Yankees have not made offer to Kuroda
NEW YORK – The Yankees have not made an offer to free agent right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, according to a person with knowledge of the club’s thinking.
A report by the Japanese news outlet Sponichi suggested that the Yankees had already presented a one-year, $12 million offer to the hurler, who turns 37 in February.
The Yankees continue to look for ways to add starting pitching that could slide behind ace CC Sabathia, and they did show a level of trade interest in Kuroda last summer when he was with the Dodgers. But the person said that the report of an offer is not true.
Kuroda finished 2011 with a 13-16 record and 3.07 ERA in 32 starts for Los Angeles, striking out 161 and walking 49 in 202 innings.
In four Major League seasons, Kuroda is 41-46 with a 3.45 ERA in 115 games (114 starts). His catcher for the first three seasons with the Dodgers was Russell Martin, who is entering his second season in New York.
Bryan Hoch
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