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Free-agent pitchers Zack Greinke and Anibal Sanchez have gotten the big headlines this offseason. They’re seen as the big prizes on the open market and reportedly also have the largest financial demands.

However, 37-year-old Hiroki Kuroda might actually be in the most demand among MLB playoff contenders.

Not only is he a proven commodity, coming off a strong season with the New York Yankees, but he’s seeking a one- to two-year contract for an annual salary that would cost far less than what Greinke and Sanchez are seeking. 

What sort of impact would Kuroda have with each of the teams that have been attached to him in baseball’s hot stove season? Where would he be the best fit? Here’s a look at each of his potential destinations. 

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The Yankees have a serious issue that they need to figure out relatively soon.

Hiroki Kuroda recently turned down a one-year, $13.3 million qualifying offer from the Yankees for 2013 and will test the free-agent waters this winter.

We all know the Yankees want Kuroda back for 2013, especially after how brilliant he was last season.

The problem is other teams are eying him up as well—like the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox, plus his native country in Japan.

With the chance of landing a multi-year deal, there’s a chance that the Yankees don’t bring Kuroda back for next season, which would really throw a wrench into their plans.

If Kuroda bolts from the Bronx, what does Yankees GM Brian Cashman do to replace his production?

Here are a few ideas in case that does happen.

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Back in January, the New York Yankees made what a lot of people called a risky signing with Hiroki Kuroda.

A lot of people were fearful of him pitching in the American League for the first time, as he was a career National Leaguer with the Dodgers.

He got off to a rocky start with the Yankees in 2012, but when he settled in, he showed everyone why the Yankees gave him a $10 million deal for 2012.

Since June began, Kuroda has been 7-2 for the Yankees and has failed to get into the sixth inning only once.

He’s also gotten his ERA down to 3.06, which is fantastic considering he’s pitching in one of the toughest divisions in baseball with the AL East.

His performance against the American League Champion Texas Rangers was absolutely sensational.

Kuroda fired a complete game, two-hit shutout, striking out five and walking two against one of the most potent lineups in the sport in a Yankees 3-0 victory.

That win gave Kuroda his 11th of the season, improving his 2012 record to 11-8.

The biggest thing Kuroda was bringing to the Bronx was professionalism and consistency—something A.J. Burnett lacked during his tenure, which is why he was on the block and traded to Pittsburgh once Kuroda was signed.

If you notice in the games where Kuroda is struggling or has a faulty outing, he doesn’t get rattled and lose his composure on the mound. He just continues to pitch and battle.

It’s a complete 180-degree turnaround from Burnett, even though he’s having success again in the National League. The bottom line is Burnett got worse with his age pitching in the American League.

Kuroda, on the other hand, has adapted to the newer league and hitters and at times, is as dominant of a pitcher on the mound. Tuesday night’s performance may have been the best of Kuroda’s season. And I think with the way he’s been pitching, Kuroda should strongly be considered to be brought back for 2013.

With Michael Pineda’s status unknown following his shoulder surgery in the spring, plus given the struggles of Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances in the minor leagues, the Yankees need sure things up for 2013.

They’ll have CC Sabathia, and he’s really the only guarantee.

Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova have been too inconsistent despite winning over 10 games a piece, and Andy Pettitte’s status for 2013 is unknown.

Kuroda would only need a one-year deal considering he’s 37, going on 38-years-old by the time the 2013 season will begin.

Pitching in the Bronx will give Kuroda the chance to win a championship as long as he’s in pinstripes, which is what lured him away from his comfort zone of pitching on the west coast in Los Angeles.

Kuroda will be put to the ultimate test in October—if and when the Yankees do make the postseason—and he’ll be given the ball in big spots.

But in my honest opinion, I’d be very comfortable seeing Joe Girardi handing Kuroda the ball in a Game 2 or Game 3 and having him go out and dominate for six or seven innings.

His mentality is suited for the Bronx and it can help them in October. And as long as he would want to, I think Brian Cashman should definitely make sure Kuroda’s in pinstripes for 2013.

Stay tuned, Yankees Universe.

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Here is one thing we can all agree on: CC Sabathia cannot pitch every day.

Thankfully for the New York Yankees, neither can Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers or Jared Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels. The burning question, however, is whether the other Yankees starters can measure up to the rotations they might face during the postseason.

The Yankees failed to acquire a starting pitcher at the trade deadline either because they felt the price  was too high or because the anticipated return of Andy Pettitte, the winningest pitcher in postseason history, will more than offset the Angels’ acquisition of Zack Greinke and the Texas Rangers‘ trade for Ryan Dempster.

Pettitte is the wild card in the Yankees’ postseason expectations. He and Sabathia are accustomed to big-game situations.

That cannot be said for the rest of the rotation. Hiroki Kuroda has been the most consistent starter after Sabathia, and Phil Hughes hit his stride in late June and has pitched well to improve his record to 11-8 and lower his ERA to 3.96. At one point this season, Hughes was allowing close to five runs a game.

At this point, Ivan Nova has pitched himself out of postseason plans and might even take a back seat to Freddy Garcia.

Nova’s record has always been misleading; he has been the beneficiary of good run support the past two seasons, but recently even the potent Yankee bats can’t keep up with the runs Nova allows. He is 10-6, but his ERA has climbed to 4.81.

If Pettitte returns, Nova and Garcia would be relegated to the bullpen for duty in long relief. Ideally, the Yankees would set up their rotation to go with Sabathia, Kuroda, Pettitte and Hughes.

The Angels are the only team that might have a stronger front line with Weaver, Greinke, Dan Haren and C.J. Wilson.

If Pettitte doesn’t return or isn’t 100 percent, well, the Yankees may have issues. Kuroda started three postseason games for the Los Angeles Dodgers and has a 2-1 record. The loss was to the Phillies in 2009, when Kuroda was roughed up for six runs in 1.1 innings.

He has done surprisingly well against American League teams after four years with the Dodgers in a pitcher’s park. Kuroda is 10-8 this season, but his ERA is an impressive 3.19.

Hughes has plenty of postseason experience, having been in 16 games. Given the Yankees’ indecision about whether Hughes should start or relieve, only three of those 16 games were starts. And he was 1-2, losing both to the Rangers in 2010.

Except for Greinke, the Yankees’ rotation wouldn’t have been upgraded with the addition of any pitcher who was traded, among them Dempster, Francisco Liriano, Paul Maholm and Joe Blanton.

Given that the Miami Marlins ultimately did not want to part with Josh Johnson, or were asking for the moon, or that Matt Garza of the Chicago Cubs was injured, the Yankees were better off holding on to any trade chips they do have.

For better or worse, it looks as if their playoff hopes hinge on the arms who are getting them there. And that may be enough to get back to the World Series.  

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On Tuesday night in Texas, two natives of Japan will match up when the Yankees’ Hiroki Kuroda takes the mound against the Rangers’ Yu Darvish. Here’s Kuroda (via The LoHud Yankees Blog):

“This is not a one-on-one game,” he said. “It’s the Rangers against the Yankees. I’m going to do as much as possible so that our team is going to win. … I try not to think about (the hype in Japan). I don’t want to make it any bigger than it is.”

And it’s not that big. It isn’t any more novel than two pitchers born in Newark, New Jersey matching up, or Joe Niekro squaring off against Phil Niekro or any game that might be a playoff preview. Mostly though, it’s a matchup of two pitchers who have, in their own way, disappointed so far this year. Kuroda has had one good start this season pitching eight shutout innings against the Angels. He’s allowed 12 runs in 10 other innings.

Meanwhile, Darvish has struggled with his command, walking 13 in 17.2 innings while also allowing 19 hits. His ERA is only 3.57 by virtue of the fact that he has yet to allow a home run, but that’s not going to last, particularly when left-handed hitters have seen him as well as they have so far, hitting .313/.431/.396. Conversely, Darvish has been almost dominant against right-handers, holding them to .174/.321/.217 line. Those splits are akin to those you sometimes see from sidearmers, and if they persist then Darvish is going to be a lot less than we expected him to be.

What is correctable is the number of walks. It has been suggested that Darvish has been nibbling and that he needs to get ahead with first-pitch fastballs. Of course, that carries its own risks—if batters are looking fastball and a first-pitch strike catches too much of the plate, Davish’s homerless streak would be over in a hurry.

The Yankees’ lineup is going to present some challenges in that regard anyway given its status as the best in the American League—right ahead of Texas. The Yankees are hitting .284/.365/.489 as a team, which is a bit like saying the entire roster is composed of Hall of Famer Dave Winfield. With switch-hitters Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher and left-handed hitters Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson and Raul Ibanez about, Darvish’s lefty problems are going to get tested very, very quickly.

The Yankees are also third in the league in walk percentage (this in spite of Ibanez’s best efforts) so if Darvish nibbles again, they’re going to happily walk around the bases.

None of that is to say that Kuroda will skate by easily. He has yet to show consistency this year and has had his own lefty problems. Fortunately for him, the Rangers are mostly right-handed. Unfortunately, their one left-handed hitter of note is Josh Hamilton, who is hitting .408/.429/.789 on the season.

The Yankees beat Derek Holland last night and they may well beat Darvish tonight as well, and as for Phil Hughes vs. Scott Feldman on Wednesday, well, that’s anyone’s guess. Whatever happens, though, it is clear that these are the two best teams in the American League and the story is far from over whether the Yankees sweep or take one or two out of three.

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HIROKI KURODA vs. ERVIN SANTANA compared to C.J. WILSON vs. PHIL HUGHES:

If you looked at Kuroda and Santana’s career stats vs. the active hitters prior to yesterday’s game, the Yankee win was already a lock.

Not taking anything away from Kuroda, but no one foreseen a less than an inning away from a complete game performance considering his last and only two both took place in 2008.

Kuroda also did have some success and experience against Angels Albert Pujols back when he was a Dodger, and that is advantage that the other Yankee starters don’t have.

As for Santana, the majority of the Yankees bats have always whacked the heck out of him except for Swisher, he came into the game with a career .182 average against him. Swisher came into yesterday with a hot and confident bat, which proved lethal.

Still, as a whole the Yankees had hit almost .300 against Santana making the matchup in favor of the Yankees from the get-go; pending that Kuroda as back to his old self.

Looking at this afternoons game, it is just not as cut and dry.

WILSON vs. HUGHES:

Looking at today’s matchup it is not as clear-cut because Phil Hughes’ stats read like a script to Jekyll and Hyde. He went from 2010 All-Star to being almost ineffective last season and now I think he is somewhere in the middle.

And that makes it easy to pick C.J. Wilson as the clear winner, but in baseball it is the unknowns that make it so fun.

Analyzing Hughes is tough; he did show up in shape this spring, and pitched well in camp, but that has yet to carry over.

Hughes didn’t look sharp at all in his first regular season start down in Tampa. He was pulled after throwing 99 pitches in four and two-thirds innings; he allowed two walks, two runs and one homer, while striking out five.

That is why I think the outcome of this game depends heavily on Hughes performance and how he handles Pujols.

As of today, the only thing that Hughes and Pujols share is a love affair with the fastball; Hughes throws it about 62 percent of the time and Pujols hits it all the time.

This could be a potentially big problem for Hughes unless he throws his with a lot of confidence.

He needs to keep his fastball on the outside upper corner, his change-up high, and stop worrying about what the radar gun reads, if he wants to get a hitter like Pujols to swing and miss. Hughes has to mix it up more than normal, as I believe that if he throws his breaking ball more he has a good chance.

Pujols has yet to hit a homer this season, but it will happen and Hughes doesn’t want to be his target practice.

Bottom line is that if Hughes doesn’t throw like it is 2010, the Yankees could be in for a long afternoon.

As for Wilson, he has clocked 164 at-bats with the active Yankees roster, holding them to a .226 batting average. He has given up homers to Jeter and Ibanez in the past but his biggest threat is Robinson Cano, who in 23 career at-bats vs. Wilson he is hitting close to .400.

It will be interesting to see how A-Rod’s hot bat will do against a pitcher who has never given up a homer to him, and has held him to a .111 average.

On the road Wilson posted a 2.25 ERA last season, which was the best in the AL. This might be Wilson’s first season with the Halos, but he got plenty of big game experience against the Yankees in the Bronx when he was with the Rangers.

Wilson got the Halos first win of 2012, as he threw seven innings of one run, three hit ball against the Twins.

Advantage: Wilson unless Hughes dazzles. 

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It’s easy for the Hiroki Kuroda doubters to come out in full force after his shaky debut with the New York Yankees, but realistically, you can take very little from any starter’s first outing of the season.

If first starts were everything, CC Sabathia wouldn’t be that good.

New York’s No. 2 starter went 5.2 innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits with fours walks and two strikeouts.

Right off the bat, Kuroda got into trouble thanks to predictably shaky fielding from Eduardo Nunez. The young infielder booted the first play of the game which was a routine ground ball and should’ve been an easy out.

The Rays made the most out of the extra out and after retiring the next two batters, Kuroda’s control issues became apparent after two consecutive walks. Luke Scott would make him pay with a two-run single to give Tampa Bay an early lead.

Had Nunez made that play, it’s safe to assume Kuroda gets out of the first with a 1-2-3 inning and maybe that changes his fortunes. At the very least, he would’ve allowed only four runs and that would’ve been enough for a Yankee offense that scored six in the game.

Kuroda was lifted in the sixth inning with two outs and two runners on. Clay Rapada successfully got out of the jam without anymore damage.

Keeping the ball down will be the name of the game in Kuroda’s next start. He was missing high and often against the Rays as evidenced by the numerous fly ball outs he was getting.

It’s far too early to have a debate about a NL West pitcher moving to the AL East. Pitchers both good and bad get off to slow starts and I won’t be surprised if Kuroda does the same with his new team.

And don’t expect Kuroda to keep his ERA in the low threes like he did last season.

He’ll be right around where he was tonight and that is allowing three to four runs per start.

Doing that consistenly will help Kuroda have a career-high win total when 2012 is said and done thanks to the offensive production the Bombers will supply.

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Take away the pinstripes, the statues, the lore.

Get rid of the 27 rings, the 40 American League Championships, the Hall of Famers.

Strip it all away, and the New York Yankees still run their team better than any other ball club in baseball does. In fact, they run theirs better than any other team in the Western Hemisphere.

What Manchester United is to soccer, what the Green Bay Packers are to football, what the Lakers are to basketball pale in comparison to what the Yankees are to baseball.

They are Apple in a league full of IBMs. They are Goldman Sachs in a league full of Lehman Brothers. They are Walmart in a league full of K-Marts.

With their most recent baseball-related moves, the New York Yankees showed that they are rich in every sense of the word, able to control the balance of power in baseball with a simple phone call. Love them or hate them, you have to respect the power of the Evil Empire.

As the only free-market American sport, baseball lends itself to a lack of parity. Since the free agency era began, baseball has shifted more from a sport full of hometown heroes to a relentless business, a perfect example of survival of the fittest.

And that’s exactly what the Yankees have been—the fittest. They signed Catfish Hunter. They traded for and signed Alex Rodriguez. They signed CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett in one offseason. They’ve traded their farm system for big-time talent, a practice other teams wouldn’t dream of.

Maybe they don’t get the best return on investment, but the Yankees have always been profitable.

When a shipbuilder from Cleveland named George Steinbrenner took over the team, he instilled a businesslike demeanor throughout the organization. It was all about the bottom line—the wins, the championships and the profits.

There is no more powerful brand in sports than the mighty “NY” embroidered on jerseys, hats and t-shirts. No team’s logo has more selling power. Not even close. When you throw in a television station and baseball’s largest market, the Yankee dynasty refers more to business than baseball.

Everything about the Yankees’ dominance was exhibited in the span of one evening. Last night, the Yankees, in two transactions, went from being doubted to win their own division to being the American League favorites.

First, they traded Jesus Montero, their top prospect, future superstar and best bargaining chip, to Seattle for Michael Pineda, a pitcher with just over 170 innings of major league experience. Why? Because they could. Why? Because the Yankees can afford to take risks like that.

Next, they bought their insurance policy. They signed Hiroki Kuroda, a proven commodity and workhorse pitcher, to a one-year deal. No other team in baseball showed much intent to pay $10 million for Kuroda. For the Yankees, he is an investment with almost zero risk. If he produces, $10 million might have been cheap. If he doesn’t produce, well, $10 million is pocket change to the New York Yankees.

Think about that for a second. The Yankees traded their best offensive prospect for what amounts to their second- or third-best pitcher. Then, they bought an insurance policy on that pitcher, who also happens to be a pretty good pitcher himself. It’s baseball’s equivalent to buying a Mercedes, then an Audi as a backup car. You can still drive the Audi, but if your Mercedes breaks down, you’ll be happy using it as your first car.

The only reason the Yankees are able to do this is because of their bottom line. It’s because their merchandise sales dwarf everyone else’s. It’s because their television revenues are astronomical. It’s because they are absolutely unaffected by the luxury tax and revenue sharing.

Perhaps this is baseball’s biggest flaw, or perhaps it is the Yankees’ biggest strength. The Yankees control the business of baseball. They set the bar. The Rays can exploit undervalued players all they want, and the Rangers can make perfect trades all they desire, but at the end of the day, the Yankees are the ones who can do literally whatever they want.

Ask any businessperson on the planet—the ability to be completely financially flexible is the ultimate dream. At an organizational level, the Yankees have achieved that dream for many years now.

What they did Friday night is simply another lesson taught by the masters of the business of baseball. The New York Yankees are the business kings of sports.

Now it is time to see if they want to sign themselves a Prince.

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The Yankees surprised the baseball world on Friday by trading highly touted catching prospect Jesus Montero and young pitcher Hector Noesi to the Seattle Mariners for young, hard-throwing, right-handed SP Michael Pineda and minor league righty Jose Campos, according to multiple sources including MLB Trade Rumors.

There were some rumors about the Mariners making a blockbuster trade earlier in the day, but the Yankees seemed to pop out of nowhere to finalize the deal. Then, after all the excitement of the trade, the Yankees made another big transaction by signing free agent and former Dodgers starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year contract in the $10 to $11 million range.

Regarding the trade for Pineda, I love it from the perspective of both teams, as the main players each team received fit their respective stadiums well. Safeco Field, where the Mariners play their home games, is more of a pitcher’s park (try much more) than Yankee Stadium, and a power hitter like Montero is someone Seattle desperately needs to liven up that terrible offense.

In an extreme bandbox like Yankee Stadium, the Yankees need to have as effective a pitching rotation as possible, and the additions of Pineda and Kuroda to their staff greatly increase the chance of that happening.

Now, the Yankees’ rotation from No. 1 to No. 5 looks like: CC Sabathia, Pineda, Kuroda (Pineda and Kuroda could flip-flop), A.J. Burnett and finally, Ivan Nova. There are also a few exclusions to that rotation, who could find themselves in the bullpen or in Triple-A, like Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon or Phil Hughes.

The moves are bringing in an excess of productive starting pitchers for Joe Girardi to choose from, which gives the Yankees skipper and GM Brian Cashman the flexibility to try to get rid of the incredibly inconsistent and much-maligned Burnett, whose contract and performance are evidence of another Yankee contract that went horribly wrong.

Montero had the chance to be the next great homegrown Yankee, hopefully to be in the company of Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera or even Bernie Williams,  but yet again, the Yankees chose to trade away the homegrown talent for a more established player that another organization developed through the minor leagues.

Most of the times the Yankees have done this, the trade has overwhelmingly worked in their favor (think Curtis Granderson trade), but it has also cost the Yankees a lot of money in terms of overpaid players.

However, the reason that the Pineda trade seems to be one of the best ones that Cashman has made in his tenure with the Yankees is that he is being paid next to nothing right now ($414,000, which will change when Pineda hits arbitration in 2013).

With this trade, the Yankees don’t handcuff themselves financially, which they somewhat do with the Kuroda signing. There is no doubt that Hiroki Kuroda is a solid MLB pitcher who has posted near-200 IP and mid-3.00 ERA seasons throughout most of his career.

I don’t personally think that a pitcher with those stats deserves an annual salary of around $10 million, but then again, they are the Yankees.

Even if Kuroda turns out to be a major dud (which I don’t think will happen, but it is certainly possible), the deep pockets of the Steinbrenners will make that mistake somehow disappear.

If I were to grade the moves separately, I would give Cashman and the Yankees an A for the Pineda trade and a B- for the Kuroda signing.

Don’t get me wrong, the players the Yankees added to their team will no doubt help the team more than the players who left would have, but I think the Yankees would have fared better to spend less on the free-agent pitcher signing, and if I was GM, I would have gone after a less expensive option like Edwin Jackson as a middle-of-the-rotation reliever.

That’s just my opinion, and I’m sure it’s one of many about the Yankees’ Friday the 13th transactions.

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It appears the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will square off 20 times in 2011, the final showdown being the pursuit of free-agent starting pitcher, Hiroki Kuroda.

So where does each team’s need for a starter come from?

In New York, the Yankees have about as unsure a starting rotation as can be. Behind CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova is coming off a great rookie season in which he became of vital importance to his team. But there is no telling if Nova can do it again.

He’ll have to avoid the dreaded sophomore jinx, and even though Nova has shown to be cool under pressure, that still doesn’t guarantee his success in the future. It only helps it along.

As for starters three through five, right now it looks like Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett and Freddy Garcia will be in those slots. But that isn’t even a certainty as no doubt guys like Hector Noesi and Dellin Betances will get a shot to make the starting rotation out of spring training.

But all six of those options, Nova included, all have one thing in common: uncertainty.

As for Boston, they are coming off the worst collapse in MLB history, desperately needing to change things—and fast.

Jon Lester and Josh Beckett should be more than sufficient enough to give Boston success as their one and two starters. But even Beckett is getting up there in age and could begin to decline at any time.

Don’t forget, since 2006, Beckett’s been very inconsistent every other year. And if the trend continues, 2012 might not be a good year for him.

Clay Buchholz should be ready for spring training, but battled injuries all season long. There is no telling how he will bounce back.

John Lackey’s season-ending injury leaves the Red Sox short a starter, but Lackey could just as easily be replaced by a Triple-A pitcher because of the horrid season he had last year. Still, it leaves a void in the rotation.

So clearly, both teams have one thing in common: they need a reliable starting pitcher.

One of the best men for that job, which has stood true throughout this offseason, is Kuroda.

In his four seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kuroda made over 30 starts in three of them. His career record is 41-46 with a 3.45 ERA.

2011 was his best season, and while his 13-16 record with a bad team isn’t very telling, his 3.07 ERA was. It’s likely that if Kuroda moves to the AL East, his ERA would go up—moving from a weak offensive division to the best in baseball.

That being said, even if it does go up, Kuroda would still be a nice fit in the No. 3 slot of either team’s rotation.

After dropping his desire to play on the west coast and closer to his native Japan, Kuroda became a top target of both teams. Kuroda will be 37 years old next season, and is a good fit because he won’t be a long-term commitment.

Kuroda is expected to ask for a $12 to $13 million contract. I think that’s a deal that both the Yankees and Red Sox, both having deep pitching concerns, would be willing to make.

Both teams have the need, the money and the competition from one another to get this deal done.

So, let the games begin!

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