UPDATE: Want more conflicting information on Hiroki Kuroda? Sure you do.
According to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com, Kuroda has indicated to the Dodgers that he is open to deals with the Yankees, Red Sox and Rangers.
While Jon Heyman of SI.com mentioned those same three teams as finalists earlier in the day, a friend of Kuroda told him that he would be surprised if he accepted a trade out of Los Angeles.
3:05 PM: We still don’t know if Hiroki Kuroda has any desire to leave Los Angeles, but teams are still jockeying for position to acquire him.
According to Jon Heyman of SI.com, the Yankees, Red Sox and Rangers are the “final three” teams in the mix to acquire Kuroda in advance of tomorrow’s trade deadline.
Not surprisingly, we’ve heard conflicting information on the matter today. ESPN’s Jim Bowden reports that the Yankees have taken the lead over the Red Sox in talks while his colleague Buster Olney says the two clubs have not spoken about Kuroda recently.
Kuroda owns a 6-13 record this season, but it distracts from a quality 3.11 ERA and 103/36 K/BB ratio over 133 innings.
Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com reported earlier this week that the 36-year-old right-hander could carry draft pick compensation as a Type B free agent this winter. Kuroda is still owed $6.7 million on his contract, most of it in the form of a signing bonus, so this remaining financial obligation could have a major impact on what the Dodgers receive in return.
