2012 MLB Free Agents: Hiroki Kuroda a Must-Have Option for Red Sox

If the season started today, the Boston Red Sox would have a starting rotation consisting of three very good pitchers and then a collection of question marks.

It would be a much better idea for them to embark on the season with four very good pitchers and a collection of question marks.

There really aren't many options left out on the free agent market at this point, but we know from Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com that the Sox are in on one of the bigger names still out there:

Boston's interest in Kuroda goes all the way back to the 2011 trade deadline, when they were rumored to be interested in acquiring his services. Exactly how interested they are in him now is difficult to determine.

On Tuesday, ESPN's Jim Bowden wrote that the Sox were "closing in on a short-term deal" with Kuroda. Shortly after, ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted that the idea that the Sox were close to signing Kuroda was "not accurate."

Thanks to Morosi, all we know now is that the two sides aren't ready to call off talks completely.

Given the Sox's relative lack of starting pitching, they need to get a little more aggressive with their pursuit of Kuroda. He's not a superstar pitcher, but he is a guy who can provide valuable innings at the back end of their rotation.

Kuroda proved that he is capable of this much during his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He pitched at least 180 innings in three of his four seasons with the Dodgers and crossed the 200-inning mark for the first time in 2011.

At the back of the rotation, the Sox wouldn't need Kuroda to do anything more than log innings. If he were to give them an ERA in the 3.00s and a WHIP around 1.20, that would be a bonus.

It's true that Kuroda would be no sure thing in the AL East, but he would be a much surer thing than the options the Sox currently have at their disposal. Right now, it's between two bullpen arms in Alfredo Aceves and Daniel Bard and two recent free-agent signings in Carlos Silva and Aaron Cook. Other arms will be in the mix as well.

Of the four main candidates, Aceves and Bard are more useful to the Sox coming out of the bullpen, and the Sox are going to find out in spring training if Silva and/or Cook have anything left to contribute.

Trusting that two of these four can step in and contribute in the rotation is not a good idea. Trusting that only one of them can contribute in the rotation is far more reasonable.

Essentially, what the Sox need is a starting pitcher they can rely on. They don't have many options in that regard, but Kuroda is easily the best of the bunch.