Hiroki Kuroda Rejects Yankees' Qualifying Offer

Today was the final day for qualifying offers to be accepted or rejected. Nine of them were extended a week ago today, with David Ortiz taken out of the running almost immediately after with the signing of a two-year deal. The other eight, though, waited until today to make their decision. Hiroki Kuroda, who the Red Sox have been linked to already should he reject it, decided against the one-year, $13.3 million offer to return to the New York Yankees, per Ken Rosenthal.

Now, this doesn't mean he's refusing to go back to New York. But those specific terms didn't work for him. He could require an extra year, a higher salary, a no-trade clause, or all of the above in order to sign. The Yankees likely could sign him to a two-year deal if they absolutely wanted to, but, because of the desire to stay under the luxury tax threshold, it's not as simple of a decision as these things normally are for New York.

The only thing that's changed is that we know one season and $13.3 million isn't enough for Kuroda. Boston will have to do better than that if they plan to lure him from New York, or a return to Los Angeles and the west coast, where he's spent the rest of his major-league career. Boston has the rotation space, as well as the financial flexibility, to make Kuroda a Red Sox, though, so it comes down to whether or not Kuroda is on board with that plan.