Monday, Dec. 17, 2007

LOS ANGELES (AP) Fulfilling one of their major offseason goals, the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to terms with Japanese free-agent right-hander Hiroki Kuroda on a three-year, $35.2 million contract.

Hiroki Kuroda KYODO PHOTO

Kuroda, who turns 33 in February, passed a physical examination on Saturday and will be introduced Sunday at a news conference.

"Kuroda was arguably the best starting pitcher on the free-agent market and will be a great addition to our staff," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said.

"There was a lot of competition for a pitcher of his ilk, and we're thrilled that he's chosen to become a Dodger and to make Los Angeles his home."

Colletti has said throughout the offseason that adding a starting pitcher was a top priority. By signing a free agent instead of making a trade, the Dodgers didn't have to give up any of their highly regarded young players.

The Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks and Kansas City Royals were among the teams bidding for Kuroda's services.

Kuroda spent the past 11 seasons with the Hiroshima Carp, where he had a 103-89 record and 3.69 ERA in 271 games. He went 12-8 with a 3.56 ERA in 26 games last season, working seven complete games.

A native of Osaka, Kuroda made the All-Star team in each of the past three seasons. He had his best year in 2006, going 13-6 with a league-leading 1.85 ERA in 26 games.

He had a league-leading 15 victories the previous year, and was a member of the bronze medal-winning Japanese Olympic team in 2004.

CARACAS (AP) Former Arizona Diamondbacks player Alex Cabrera on Saturday denied ever using steroids after his name appeared in the Mitchell Report.

The report chronicles the discovery of a bottle containing steroids in the Diamondbacks clubhouse in September 2000. A clubhouse employee found the bottle and several hundred pills in a package that had been mailed to Cabrera, according to the report.

"I couldn't have used the substances that are identified," Cabrera said.

"I never had possession of the alleged box that supposedly contained the pharmaceutical drugs."

Cabrera made his denial on the Web site of the Caracas Lions, his winter league team in Venezuela. He could not be reached for comment.

The substances were sent to the commissioner's office by then-general manager Joe Garagiola Jr., and later passed on to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to be analyzed.

The bottle contained stanozol, an injectable form of steroids, and the pills were over-the-counter diet pills, according to the report. By the time the tests were completed, Cabrera's contract had been sold to the Seibu Lions, the report said.

Cabrera, who played outfield and first base in his one season with the Diamondbacks, hinted in his statement he was a scapegoat.

"It was easier to suggest that a recently acquired rookie whose contract had been sold to Japan was responsible for the phantom box, which I never saw," he said.

"Those who have followed my career can see that my physique has not changed since my days as a rookie and my performance has improved as a result of hard work in the gym and on the field," he added.

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