The Colorado Rockies are looking to add former Los Angeles Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda as a free agent this offseason, reports Troy Renck of the Denver Post. This comes after the Rockies appear to be out of the running for the services of Roy Oswalt, who wants to sign until after several other pitchers ink deals. He'll be able to set his price tag once that happens.
As for Kuroda, the former Dodgers pitcher has been in Los Angeles since he made his MLB debut in 2008. He turns 37 years old in February, which doesn't make him a candidate for a long-term contract, but he won't get anywhere near the $12 million he made last season.
In 2011, Kuroda did see his groundball percentage from 51.1 percent in 2010 drop to 43.2 percent. But he stranded runners on base at nearly an 80 percent clip and still maintained a 3.07 ERA with a 3.78 FIP and 3.56 xFIP (the latter two numbers taking into account the outcomes a pitcher controls: walks, home runs, strikeouts).
With the exception of an injury-filled 2009, Kuroda has pitched at least 183-1/3 innings in the other three seasons. If the Rockies progress beyond "preliminary conversations," the team could do worse things than sign Kuroda.
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