Kuroda spent his whole MLB career with the Dodgers until becoming a free agent after the 2011 season. He came over to the States for the 2008 season at the age of 33, zipping over from Japan, and pitching pretty well for the Dodgers over 4 seasons. Of course, that was in the NL West, and in a pitcher-friendly park/league.
Kuroda signed with the Yankees as a free agent this offseason, inking a 1-year, $10MM deal. He's been okay this year, I guess, if you ignore his really bad debut, and his really bad third start. The league switch has definitely been a bit tough on him, and I'm sure Yankee Stadium has a little something to do with that, but his peripherals aren't great. He's outperformed his fip and xfip dramatically to this point, his k/9 is down by 2 full strikeouts, his walk rate is up by a full walk, and his fastball velocity is down by 1.5 MPH (though he's throwing more sliders and fewer 4-seamers, so that could make sense).
The Jays outrighted Trystan Magnusson to Dunedin (High-A), which removes him from the 40-man roster. It seems like everybody is calling this a reaction to Brett Lawrie getting suspended and the Jays needing a replacement, but that simply isn't accurate, from what I can tell. Not only has Lawrie not been suspended (yet, anyway), but he'll be allowed to appeal that suspension and continue playing until his hearing, which needs to be done in person at the MLB offices in New York. The Jays don't go to New York until after the all-star break, which apparently means that if he is indeed suspended, assuming he appeals, his suspension won't be served until some time in July. I don't know how legit that is, for the record, and don't really have anyway to confirm or disconfirm such news, but I'd say Wilner knows more than I do about this kind of thing.
Suspensions can be appealed in #MLB - don't take effect until after the appeal is heard. It'll be months before Lawrie has to sit. #bluejaysThis seems pretty outrageous to me, and maybe if they just say "Hey, 1 game and a cash fine" he'll just accept it or something. And it's not like they're half a country away from New York-- they're in Toronto, so I can't really see why the don't just send him on an offday or on the way to/from Boston or Baltimore or whatever. Basically, "I don't know", is what I'm trying to say. Lawrie is in the lineup tonight though, so take that however you'd like. I've heard that the league announces suspensions, but not fines, for the record.
— Mike Wilner (@Wilnerness590) May 16, 2012
Anyway, what I think the Magnusson thing really means is that someone is going to get added to the 40-man and called up to the bigs in the next day or two. Perhaps a starter? To take over for Kyle Drabek? Who can't throw strikes? And needs to go back down to AAA to figure out his mechanical inconsistencies or learn that he has a mid-90's fastball and knee-bending curve that can just get batters out so you don't have to fucking nibble? Deck Mcguire, perhaps? Or maybe they found a trade partner to score a 1B/DH and get Adam Lind the fuck outta here.
I'm basing this on entirely nothing, but if that whole thing about the suspension not taking place right away is real, then there's no need for a knee-jerk DFA, and I doubt that this is anything more than a coincidence that Lawriegate happened on the same day as this roster move.
Stuff
Check in with Pete Rose, who lives in Las Vegas, of all places. Semi-related, ESPN is doing a bunch of "30 for 30" shorts, and this is one of the first ones. Here's hoping they do a bunch more.
Joe Torre doesn't think Lawrie did it on purpose, which is probably good news.
Turf. No Jeter tonight. Sorry ladies. The Jays counter with an offday for Yunel Escobar, a DH day for Adam Lind, and a 2-hole for Eric Thames and his .308 OBP. Your move, Yankees.
Lineups
Jays
Johnson 2B
Thames LF
Bautista RF
Encarnacion 1B
Lawrie 3B
Rasmus CF
Arencibia C
Lind DH
Vizquel SS
Drabek P
Yankees
Granderson CF
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Rodriguez 3B
Teixeira 1B
Ibanez LF
Chavez DH
Martin C
Nix SS (Haha, what?)
Kuroda P
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