WHY KURODA IS NOT THE ANSWER FOR THE YANKEES

I’m sorry. I’m not going to report about a rumor that isn’t a rumor that may be a rumor that is absolutely ridiculous. So instead, I’ll fill you in on what the hell I’m talking about and then I’ll rant… let me, it’s my blog.

Late last week, there was a report that Hiroki Kuroda was offered a contract by the New York Yankees (HERE) and then that report was refuted (HERE). Then it was confirmed that it wasn’t true. Then Wally Matthews put out a story HERE to clear it up…Like that’s supposed to be the end of the conversation or something. The whole thing is ridiculous. This goes back to my point, none of these guys know anything. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been doing this for 3 minutes or 20 years, when you hear a “rumor” you report the “rumor” and the “rumor” is from an “unnamed source” and if the “rumor” is wrong…it’s easy to say “Oh well, I guess the source was wrong.” Cop out.

Let’s put this simply, I don’t want Hiroki Kuroda. I may be one of the few, but I believe Kuroda is no better than what we have. I don't want to hear that "I'm underestimating him, that he's better than AJ Burnett", he probably is, I just don't want him. Ivan Nova may have a great year this year, and I'd say at this point, he and Kuroda are equal to each other, and Nova's younger, Kuroda is 36! Now you can look at his ERA over the past 4 years and make your argument that each year his ERA has improved to the low 3's and he was on the Dodgers so that's why he has a losing record each season. You can tell me that if he was on the Yankees with that offense, he would improve. I say if the Yankees were really really hell bent on Hiroki Kuroda, then we should have been pursuing him all along. We weren't. Instead, he's always a fallback to other top pitchers we missed out on.

My opinion is, let's not get all crazy about the market right now. The Yankees didn't score a big pitcher, so now it's clear, we're grasping and Kuroda is the one we're now grasping at. Sad really. Listen, I don’t care about all that stuff about him not wanting to come to the East Coast and then suddenly, he’s fine with it. Bottom line, Kuroda does not fix the Yankees rotation for the better… all it does is give the rotation headaches. Imagine this; It's 2012 and the Yankees make it all the way to Game 7 of the World Series and the entire season lies on Hiroki Kuroda. Are you putting money on that? It’s like playing in Vegas. My point is I don’t look at him and sigh and say “all our problems are over, we got Kuroda.” That's my opinion of course, and you can have yours, that’s fine...prove me wrong Hiroki.

Look ladies and gentlemen, we in Yankeeland are frustrated, I get that, but we can’t hang on every name and think that that’s the quick fix we need. We need a big time pitcher and while the New York Yankees let a lot of these Free Agents walk, it’s clear they have a plan, be it now or at the trade deadline, something big is going to happen. I have a gut feeling...it's too quiet. The Yankees are smarter than signing Hiroki Kuroda and if they were to sign him, he’s clearly no #2 starter. Instead, he’s just another guy you put in the back of the rotation. Stockpiling pitching I guess. No, the Yankees know they need a #2, or hell, even a #3. Kuroda will compete with guys like AJ Burnett, Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia. See my point?

Sometimes I wish old man Steinbrenner were alive to stir things up alittle because all I want for Christmas is a stud starting pitcher, not a guy who’s just OK…

My rant is over... time for breakfast.

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