The Yankees' best starting pitcher in 2012 will be back with the club for 2013.

Hiroki Kuroda, who went 16-11 with a 3.32 ERA in his first season in the American League, signed a one-year deal Tuesday night to return to the Yankees next season.

The contract is worth $15 million, plus incentives that are worth less than $1 million, sources told ESPN.

"I am very happy and excited to re-sign with the Yankees," said Kuroda in a release. "I am very grateful for all of the interest and all of the offers that I received from the various teams that courted me. It was a tough decision for me to make, but at the end of the day, I wanted to try to win a championship with the teammates that I went to battle with last season."

Kuroda, 37, led the team in innings pitched (219 2/3), shared the team lead in victories with Phil Hughes, and his ERA was lower than that of any other starter other than Andy Pettitte, who appeared in just 12 games. Also, Kuroda did all of it with the lowest run support of any Yankees' starter. Kuroda pitched in two postseason games, going 0-1 with a 2.81 ERA.

"I thought Hiroki did a phenomenal job for us last year, and we had a strong preference," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said on a conference call Tuesday night. "He's a pro."

ESPNLosAngeles.com reported that Kuroda drew interest from the Los Angeles Dodgers, for whom he had pitched his four previous major league seasons, as well as offers to return to Japan, where he pitched 11 seasons for the Hiroshima Karp.

"The guy has proven everything over here," Cashman said. "He pitched successfully in the National League. He came over to the American League East and pitched successfully over here. He pitched on short rest. He pitched successfully in the postseason. I'm not sure what else he has to prove to anybody in any league. We were hoping he'd pick us and thankfully he did."

The Yankees had made a $13.3 million qualifying offer to Kuroda when he became a free agent after the conclusion of the World Series, but the offer was rejected, and there was talk Kuroda preferred either to return to Japan or to the Dodgers, near where his wife and children live in southern California. Cashman said he suspected Kuroda could have had a multiyear deal with another club but chose to return to the Yankees.

"I think by coming here he left some money on the table," Cashman said. "I think it's a reflection of he really enjoyed playing here, in this city, for this team, for this organization and with these teammates to come back under the circumstances he's coming back under. And we stretched, too, to make it happen."