Saturday, December 24, 2011
TGS NY: Source: It is about the money with Kuroda
The Yankees are still unlikely to do anything major this offseason unless they can unload some money, a baseball official with knowledge of their plans. So even though they like Hiroki Kuroda a lot, Yankees GM Brian Cashman does not have the cash to spend on the righty starter. Kuroda figures to receive at least $12 million on a one-year deal.
Feeling they have five starters in CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett and Freddy Garcia, that is not in Cashman’s budget. The Yankees already have commitments that will put their 2012 payroll in the $185-$200M range.
Since the topic of signing Kuroda or Edwin Jackson to replace Burnett in the rotation came up in an earlier thread, here’s a quick projection comparison of the three as Yankees in CAIRO.
I set the innings the same for all three for a direct comparison.
| Pitcher | G | GS | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | HBP | SO | RA | ERA | FIP | RAR | WAR |
| Burnett | 32 | 32 | 190 | 199 | 110 | 103 | 26 | 79 | 11 | 164 | 5.22 | 4.88 | 4.52 | 13 | 1.3 |
| Jackson | 30 | 30 | 190 | 213 | 100 | 93 | 20 | 63 | 4 | 140 | 4.74 | 4.39 | 3.97 | 23 | 2.3 |
| Kuroda | 31 | 31 | 190 | 202 | 99 | 87 | 22 | 47 | 5 | 134 | 4.67 | 4.11 | 3.92 | 25 | 2.5 |
The last CAIRO spreadsheet had Burnett at 1.9 WAR but I had replacement level set too low so he’s at 1.3 now. We’re more interested in the difference though. Both Jackson and Kuroda project about a win better than Burnett in 2012.
Unfortunately, the cost of adding that additional win is likely $12M for at least one year. It doesn’t really make sense if you look at it that way. So I think the Yankees are probably right to sit tight here, even if it’s a little boring right now.
Happy holidays to everyone.
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