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"We'll just keep looking," Pat Gillick said during the second day at the annual general manager meetings at the palatial Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress resort. "There's nothing we could do about it during this period [when Boston held exclusive negotiating rights]. If he had gotten out there, it might have been a different story." Gillick confirmed that the team has a legitimate interest in righthander Hiroki Kuroda, who this week formally filed for free agency from the Hiroshima Carp. It's logical to assume there will be vigorous bidding for Kuroda, who was 12-8 with a 3.56 earned run average for the Carp last season. He led Japan's Central League with a 1.85 earned run average in 2006 and has 74 complete games in 244 career starts. He would be particularly attractive since, unlike Daisuke Matsuzaka, he would not require a posting fee; Boston paid the Seibu Lions $51 million just for the rights to negotiate with Dice-K last winter. Also, the team that signs him would not have to give up a compensatory draft choice. |
Curt Schilling may not have been the Phillies' No. 1 choice to address their desperate need to add a starting pitcher, but the news that he opted to remain with the Boston Red Sox hit the team harder than they probably wanted to let on.