As you’ve no doubt heard, Kenny Rogers parted ways with superagent Scott Boras Friday, presumably because Rogers wanted to be a Tiger and Boras tested GM Dave Dombrowski’s nerves by shopping Rogers around anyway.

Many people thought this would lead to Rogers signing — or at least coming to an agreement on — a contract today. It hasn’t happened yet. At least, there are no reports in the media.

But Jon Paul Morosi of the Freep had an interesting thought. Whether this was his own personal crusade or whether he’s working based on the Tigers having real interest (this article says they have some interest) I don’t know. Anyway, he wrote Sunday about Hiroki Kuroda. While lacking for the flash and panache of fellow Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka — hold for spell check — Kuroda’s selling point is pitching in a home ball park the size of a starter apartment and maintaining a career ERA of 3.69 while doing it. He finished 2006 with the best ERA in the Nippon league, 1.85.

Because he is a free agent, there is no posting fee. Of course, a google search proves multiple teams are interested. Morosi warns the Tigers’ interest may wane if/when they sign Rogers. But should it? I have been thinking Detroit needs to tap the Japanese market now that the Tigers have become a real team again. It wouldn’t hurt to have a little added international exposure, even if Kuroda doesn’t have the notoriety of Dice-K or Ichiro. That, and they need pitching and could probably allow young lefty Andrew Miller some time to warm up in the minors and work on things. They do need to let him develop, we learned in the 2007 season.

The 32-year old may be the best free agent pitcher available, according to Prospect Insider. He has a fastball, slider and splitter, nothing exceptionally fast but seems to have good movement, about 6K and 2BB per 9 innings. He projects at No. 3 the site says. Given the Tigers could probably use a decent No. 3 or No. 4, I think that would work well unless the price was insane.

So, I’m all for it.

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Related posts

• April 24, 2008 -- Game 22: Tigers score 19
• April 13, 2008 -- Game 12: At least it didn’t end in a no-hitter (part 2)
• March 12, 2008 -- Leyland unveils regular lineup
• March 7, 2008 -- Most important Tigers
• February 14, 2008 -- Kenny Rogers: Drugs tainted era
• December 1, 2007 -- Bunt Single: Busy Friday!
• November 23, 2007 -- Should Rogers signing be last?

This entry was posted on Monday, November 19th, 2007 at 2:09 pm and is filed under 2007-08 offseason. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.