The Hiroki Kuroda question: Dodgers need to try and re-sign the right-hander
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The Dodgers are going to have a long, difficult to-do list this off-season.
Somewhere near the top will be making a decision on whether to retain Hiroki Kuroda.
They need to try and re-sign him.
They only have two starters locked up next season, Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley. That means three-fifths of the rotation -- Vicente Padilla, Ted Lilly and Kuroda -- will be free agents.
Three pitchers in their mid-30s, three who have pitched well this year, but all bring an element of risk.
Kuroda, however, is enjoying his finest season with the Dodgers. Despite his 10-12 record, he has been close to the pitcher the Dodgers hoped he would be when they signed him to a $35.3-million, three-year contract before the 2008 season.
There is no indication from Kuroda, who turns 36 in February, whether he wants to return to the Dodgers, explore free agency, return to pitch in Japan or simply retire.
And he’s not about to publicly indicate which way he’s leaning.
‘I’m not going to think about next season right now,’ Kuroda said through a Japanese interpreter. ‘I’m only thinking about my next start and I want to concentrate on that.’
‘I’ll be able to answer your question after the season is over. But right now, I’m just focused on my next start.’
Kuroda has a 3.39 earned-run average, the lowest of his three seasons with the Dodgers.
His record could be significantly better if the Dodgers would score a few runs for him. Six times this year, he has started a game in which the Dodgers were shut out. The Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox each have been shut out only three times.
‘You always want to win,’ Kuroda said. ‘If you had more numbers in the win column, it could motivate you to keep going. Since it’s not the case this year, it’s a little bit frustrating.’
Kuroda decided to leave Japan partially because he was tired of playing on a struggling team. His first two seasons in Los Angeles, the Dodgers reached the National League Championship Series. This year, the Dodgers are 69-68.
Yet, if that’s a factor in deciding his future, he won’t say. He won’t say what the factors will be in his decision.
‘I don’t really want to think about the future,’ he said. ‘Really, anything can happen. You could break your arm in your next start. All I can do is concentrate and prepare 100% on my next start.
‘If I complete this season without injury, that’s really a big plus. That’s really a confidence booster. But it’s not something I’m really going to think about until the end of the season.’
Kuroda has two children, 5 and 8 years old. The Japanese media seems to think he wants to return to Japan.
Yet, he could sign a short-term deal, possibly even a one-year contract. Yet, if it’s the Dodgers, it would probably have to be at a reduced rate from the $15.43 million he’s being paid this season.
He has certainly shown he’s capable of continuing to pitch at a major league level. And earned another run at him by the Dodgers.
-- Steve Dilbeck