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Masahiro Tanaka Rumors: Sunday

By edcreech | December 22, 2013 at 4:00pm CDT

With the Shin-Soo Choo signing expected to take the Rangers out of the Masahiro Tanaka sweepstakes, the Yankees, Cubs, and Diamondbacks are the teams most prominently linked to the 25-year-old right-hander. Here's the latest on Tanaka:

  • It could be a very, merry Christmas for teams interested in Tanaka. Ben Badler of Baseball America cites Japanese media reports suggesting, because of Tanaka's schedule, if a decision to post him is announced before the end of the year it could come Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. The deadline to post any Japanese player is February 1.
  • Japanese newspaper Nikkan Gendai reports the Rakuten Golden Eagles may be delaying their decision so as to maximize the $20MM posting fee by taking advantage of the dollar-to-yen exchange rate (h/t Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times).    
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Masahiro Tanaka

Cafardo On Papelbon, Youkilis, Overbay, Drew
Main
AL East Notes: Orioles, Yankees, Beltran
61 comments
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Comments

  1. MadmanTX

    7 years ago

    Everybody thought the Rangers were done making moves and then they signed Choo. If Tanaka is available, don’t be surprised if the Rangers go for him with the expectation that if they sign Tanaka, they’ll seek to trade one of their other starters to cut payroll a bit.

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    • Frittoman626

      7 years ago

      They were always going for Choo and the conception around the league was that Choo would eventually sign there. I don’t think the Rangers will pursue since they would be bidding against a desperate Yankees team that needs him as well as the Dodgers, Cubs, Angels, D-Backs, and the Mariners. The Rangers have no real need for Tanaka, so it wouldn’t make sense.

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      • jblank1980

        7 years ago

        Conception?? Haha how about perception

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        • Frittoman626

          7 years ago

          Yeah, I was typing really fast and didn’t notice. It happens lol

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        • mattdecap

          7 years ago

          Conception can also mean the way something is perceived.

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    • outlawsundown

      7 years ago

      With the market desperate for quality pitching they might actually get something decent back trading someone. But yeah gonna depend on what kind of offers get thrown out there.

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    • talcha32

      7 years ago

      Nobody thought Texas was done. Everyone’s been waiting to see which one of Choo/Cruz/Tanaka became a Ranger.

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  2. Kyle

    7 years ago

    Rangers will put the max bid in and talk to Tanaka. There’s no reason not too. Take Darvish with you to vouch for the organization and go from there. If the bidding is too high then so be it.

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    • matt luce

      7 years ago

      Rangers are done spending money

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      • Phil Merkel

        7 years ago

        I beg to differ…you can’t know that!!!

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      • p_phelps09

        7 years ago

        The Rangers had $74mm committed to the team at the end of the 2013 season. Losing Kinsler and adding Fielder adds $8mm to next years payroll. Resigning Soto is another $3mm. The details of Choo’s deal havent been released but it will be about $19mm added to the payroll for next year for him. Arencibia was $1.8mm. The few other minor moves add up to another $2mm or so, so all together their payroll is at about $107mm. Considering the year before the team was at $125mm, that leaves some room in the budget

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        • outlawsundown

          7 years ago

          Five million was moved from the first season for Choo to the two following seasons.

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          • p_phelps09

            7 years ago

            yeah that’s my point though. The rangers still have budget space to make a major move ala Tanaka. That being said I doubt the rangers get him because some team will pay him a boat load that the rangers wont be comfortable with

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      • outlawsundown

        7 years ago

        With the current ownership if they think it’s worth it they’ll probably come up with the money. They did it with Darvish that weren’t keen on him initially because it looked like the bidding was going to be astronomical if the old system held. The TV deal should be kicking in after next season so they’ll have some more money coming in.

        Plus if they had Darvish and Tanaka I wouldn’t be surprised if they managed to get some sort of Japanese TV deal going. Plus money from selling merchandise. It also might open up the opportunity to trade one of their other starters and find another bat. It probably won’t happen but I wouldn’t rule it out if the price was right.

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    • Thomas

      7 years ago

      Yeah. they may bid but they won’t be competitive with the Mariners or Angels or even Yankees.

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      • omavricko

        7 years ago

        Every team will post the 20m

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      • Kyle

        7 years ago

        I’m glad we have a couple of insiders in Matt and Thomas who can tell us where the Rangers stand.

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    • Thomas

      7 years ago

      Yeah. they may bid but they won’t be competitive with the Mariners or Angels or even Yankees.

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      • talcha32

        7 years ago

        Rangers are loaded. They can be competitive here if they want to be.

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  3. Alex

    7 years ago

    Howie kendrick for derick holland

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    • JustAnother24

      7 years ago

      How does that make any sense for the Rangers? They finally cleared space to let Profar be an everyday player, and Holland is the Rangers #2 pitcher.

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    • talcha32

      7 years ago

      1. I’m embarrassed for you that you even posted this.

      2. We have our 2B. You might have heard of him. Quite recently, he was the #1 prospect in all of baseball.

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  4. Blake

    7 years ago

    Tanaka is probably better than Darvish. And he’s 25. It might have been better to put the money into Tanaka than Choo.

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    • charles stevens

      7 years ago

      How do you know he’s better? I’m not saying he isn’t but thats a pretty bold statement. It’ll be interesting to watch the bidding war.

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      • Blake

        7 years ago

        More talent, smoother mechanics, similar movement, velocity, and control. And getting better with age. I’m not saying they’re far apart but I think I’d rather have Tanaka at this point.

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    • Frittoman626

      7 years ago

      I don’t think he is better than Darvish, with all due respect to Tanaka Darvish is a true #1 who has a chance to strike out 300 batters in a season. Tanaka is more of a #2 or #3.

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      • Blake

        7 years ago

        Tanaka’s last 3 years in the Japanese leagues were superior to what Darvish did there. My argument is that Tanaka is coming in to his prime and getting better. His velocity and stuff will be peaking, whereas Darvish is actually going to start losing that now.

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        • Kyle

          7 years ago

          Are you talking about the same Yu Darvish that is 27 years old? That makes no sense.

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          • Blake

            7 years ago

            Makes perfect sense actually. There are many examples of pitchers who have lost velocity by 27. Lincecum’s average fastball velocity peaked at age 24 at 94. It’s declined ever since. There are many many other examples. Scour pitch f/x data if you don’t believe me.
            I contend that Darvish hit peak velocity in 2013 and will now start to decline. Meanwhile, Tanaka will gain velocity over at least the next 2 years, maybe 3 or more.

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          • Blake

            7 years ago

            There are many examples of pitchers who have lost velocity by 27. Lincecum’s average fastball velocity peaked at age 24 at 94. It’s declined ever since. There are many other examples. Scour pitch f/x data if you don’t believe me.

            I contend that Darvish hit peak velocity in 2013 and will now start to decline. Meanwhile, Tanaka will gain velocity over at least the next 2 years, maybe 3 or more.

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          • Guest

            7 years ago

            There are many examples of pitchers who have lost velocity by 27. Lincecum’s average fastball velocity maxed out at age 24 at 94. It’s declined ever since. There are many other examples. Look at velocity data if you don’t believe me.

            I contend that Darvish hit max velocity in 2013 and will now start to decline. Meanwhile, Tanaka will gain velocity over at least the next 2 years, maybe 3 or more.

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        • Tko11

          7 years ago

          It doesn’t matter what he did over there as there have been pitchers who had success there but not in the MLB (Igawa, Dice K). It’s more so how their pitching will translate to the MLB. Darvish had a remarkable transition while a guy like Dice K showed flashes but ended up not panning out. So saying Tanaka will be superior in the MLB compared to Darvish is really not logical since Darvish has already shown to be a major league ace while Tanaka has yet to be posted.

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  5. Andy Todd

    7 years ago

    I like Choo, but I’d rather have Tanaka!

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  6. BK

    7 years ago

    I see the Angels and Yankees as being the real front-runners here. Angels becuase Arte has shown a panache for not caring about cost as well as Dipoto’s insistence on signing a top flight free-agent pitcher without giving up a draft pick. The Yankees, well, because they’re the Yankees.

    In the end I predict a 5/95 deal with one of these teams and a club option for the a 6th.

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    • charles stevens

      7 years ago

      It will take 6/120. Plus the 20m posting fee so you’re out 140 million.

      Like
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  7. iyasuN

    7 years ago

    Interesting point from the Nikkan article: Rakuten checked with NPB about whether they would have any way of tracking which MLB teams a posted Tanaka was negotiating with.

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  8. Garret Strachota

    7 years ago

    will it be announced who all posts the 20m?

    Like
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  9. Taylor

    7 years ago

    Anyone think that the presence of Choo and Darvish helps the rangers get a discount? That paired with the fact that if he signed and placed into the rangers rotation as 2/3 and ogando to the pen would have to make the rangers WS favorites? Or you think he takes the biggest deal?

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    • charles stevens

      7 years ago

      He will take the biggest deal more than likely. Texas would be stacked if they get him somehow.

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    • jed_hoyer

      7 years ago

      biggest deal in 2 yrs when he’s a FA

      Like
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    • p_phelps09

      7 years ago

      Choo is Korean so no..

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    • Mike Z

      7 years ago

      Um, Choo is Korean, so no.

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    • homunculus

      7 years ago

      Not likely, and it’s not because of Choo and that nonsense. It’s Darvish. I don’t think either of them wants to play second fiddle to the other. Very same reason why Ichiro was never all that hot to play with Matsui.

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  10. Sami20

    7 years ago

    Towers let’s go remember it’s your walk year

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    • mmiller54

      7 years ago

      If they’re going to spend some big money, this is where I would like to spend it… not on Garza, Ubaldo, or Santana.

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  11. Guest

    7 years ago

    check

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  12. 王威評

    7 years ago

    According to report, Tanaka prefers to pitch on the west coast.
    Ms and Dodgers will both bid Max.

    Like
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    • Tko11

      7 years ago

      Hoping he goes to the M’s if hes posted this offseason!

      Like
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    • charles stevens

      7 years ago

      According to a report, Tanaka prefers to get filthy rich.

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      • 王威評

        7 years ago

        He will get 100M+ filthy rich everywhere he prefers.

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    • Tim Bowers

      7 years ago

      Mariners will spare no expense if Tanaka is willing to come to Seattle.

      These kinds of opportunities don’t come often.

      7 years 140 million

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    • gabyland15

      7 years ago

      Remember seattle is close to it’s payroll limit, apparently according to reports

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  13. SportsLover

    7 years ago

    Tanaka has stated that he wants to play for either Los Angeles or New York.

    Like
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    • Tko11

      7 years ago

      Or Madagascar.

      Like
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  14. Blake

    7 years ago

    I’ll never get on this cheap site again and I expect the people that run it to come to their ruin financially.

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    • GrilledCheese39

      7 years ago

      Umm why?

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  15. Butch Crassidy

    7 years ago

    Go get him, Theo and Jed. Speed this rebuilding process up.

    Like
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    • charles stevens

      7 years ago

      Not yet. Don’t be the Mariners

      Like
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      • Butch Crassidy

        7 years ago

        Gotta figure the Mariners went after Cano so hard to gain relevance and pose as an attractive destination for future FAs. Despite their current state, I don’t think the Cubs signing Tanaka would be seen as a desperation move, considering he’s 25 and after Shark, there isn’t much pitching to write home about in the entire organization. It would be smart.

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  16. Drew Pike

    7 years ago

    Masahiro Tanaka would like to thank all the teams that have showed interest in him, but he has decided to sign with the Seattle Mariners. We will hold a press conference to introduce him, in the next few days, and you can ask questions then.

    Like
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  17. homunculus

    7 years ago

    Keep praying. I don’t see him being posted this season. Rakuten is already starting to win the PR battle in Japan because everyone is starting to realize that the new posting rules would shaft the team.

    Like
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