Kuroda declared his intention to play in the major leagues next season on October 18, 2007. It was briefly rumored that he would use the posting system to move to the major leagues, giving the poorly financed Hiroshima team some monetary benefits from the process, but he ended up declaring free agency, which enabled him to negotiate freely with any of the major league teams. The Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Los Angeles Dodgers showed varying degrees of interest in signing Kuroda, and he signed a three-year, $35.3 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on December 12, 2007.