The non-waiver trade deadline is just a little more than 24 hours away, and the Dodgers’ Hiroki Kuroda could wind up 3,000 miles away from his current baseball home, according to ESPN radio’s Jim Bowden:
MLB Trade Rumors: Hiroki Kuroda May Be Traded To Red Sox
Red Sox – Dodgers working hard on Hiroki Kuroda trade for minor league prospect
The Red Sox rotation has been decimated by injuries this season; the 36-year-old Kuroda is having a solid season, with a 3.11 ERA and 1.23 WHIP (don’t be fooled by his 6-13 W-L record; W-L records for starting pitchers can be misleading).
Kuroda has a full no-trade clause and has indicated in the past that he didn’t want to leave Los Angeles. But he is a free agent at the end of this season and according to MLB.com, Dodgers management is trying to work things out so that Kuroda can be moved:
The Dodgers continue to work toward a deal to give Hiroki Kuroda a chance for postseason glory, general manager Ned Colletti said Friday.
“I want to do what’s good for him, what he’s comfortable with, if it can help us,” said Colletti. “If it gets to the point where it makes sense for us, the decision will be his.”
Kuroda has continued to decline comment when asked if he’d accept a trade, and time is growing short:
With the Trade Deadline Sunday afternoon, Colletti indicated he might need to present Kuroda with a destination by Saturday.
“I’m not going to be able to spring it on him at 12:30 Sunday,” he said. “He needs time to contemplate what he wants to do.”
So, if any deal involving Kuroda is going to happen — and it appears that the Red Sox are the likely recipient — we should hear more later today.
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