Diamondbacks interested in Dodgers starter
Jul 19, 2011, 6:41 PM | Updated: 8:47 pm
The Diamondbacks’ search for another starting pitcher may end just a few hundred miles to the West.
According to Jim Bowden of ESPN.com, Arizona has been linked to the Dodgers’ Hiroki Kuroda.
The 36-year-old Kuroda is 6-11 this year, but his 3.13 ERA and 1.20 WHIP belie his record. All told, he’s actually pitching as well as he has in any other year, just without the run support.
The idea of trading within the division has been discussed already with regards to San Diego’s Heath Bell, but the Dodgers and Kuroda present a different scenario altogether.
With bankruptcy issues looming over them the Dodgers may be looking to shed what’s left of the pitcher’s $12 million salary, with little concern of what they are getting in exchange.
The Diamondbacks, in turn, would be adding a pitcher who knows the division well and has had a reasonable amount of success. Kuroda also has playoff experience, winning each of his starts in 2008 while dropping his only game in 2009.
And, for the cost, this could prove to be the right move at the right time for a team hoping to reach the postseason without giving up a top prospect.
