According to Buster Olney of ESPN (via twitter [1]), the Yankees have agreed with Hiroki Kuroda on a one-year deal to bring the right-hander back to the Yankees. Olney added that Kuroda will have a $15 million salary with a chance to earn incentives that will top out at less than $1 million.
Once Kuroda declined the one-year, $13.3 million qualifying offer that the Yankees made to him following the season, the Sox had considerable interest in the 37-year-old given his considerable success in 2012 in New York (16-11, 3.22 ERA, 167 strikeouts in 219 2/3 innings), his consistent track record in Major League Baseball (in five years with the Dodgers and Yankees, he's never had an ERA of higher than 3.76) and the fact that he sought only a short-term deal given his interest in finishing his career back in his native Japan. However, it became evident to the Sox that they were unlikely to get Kuroda by the time news of his decision was reported.
For complete Red Sox coverage, visit weei.com/redsox [2].
Links:
[1] https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/271030518890500096
[2] http://www.weei.com/redsox
[3] http://www.weei.com/category/boston/red-sox