Here's the latest on the bidding for Masahiro Tanaka.
- The Cubs are the "lead team" for Tanaka, a source tells Levine (via Twitter).
- The Cubs have made a "real offer" to Tanaka, tweets 670TheScore.com's Bruce Levine, who also notes that one key factor for Tanaka and his wife will be the presence of a Japanese community in his new city. On Thursday, we heard that the Cubs were "pushing hard" for Tanaka, and Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reported on the "sales pitch" the Cubs made to Tanaka last week.
Hope the Cubbies get him! Then hopefully, the rest of the FA pitchers start signing.
I want the O’s to get Jimenez. Anyway, the Cubs seem to be the most serious even though there’s a lot of rumors flying around out there. NL Central will be very competitive from top to bottom if Tanaka signs.
I agree that the Cubs seem very serious about trying to get him. But from what I’ve read, Tanaka wants to go to a club that’s contending right now, so I don’t know exactly what their chances are of getting him. Also, I don’t think signing Tanaka would make the Cubs contend, right away at least. Even if he pitches above and beyond the massive contract he’s going to sign, they need their other prospects to step up big time.
The pitch they have been telling Tanaka is that they wont be contending but with Tanaka in the rotation they will contend by 2015 because that is when the main prospects will be hitting the major league in some time in 2014 or at the beginning of the 2015 season.
Are you part of the negotiations?
No but that is what was assumed in the last Tanaka rumors
Cubs will have to add a crap ton of pitching to contend by 2015. They have a lof of high end hitting prospects that would help land an ACE…Tanaka isnt profiling like Darvish..
How would you know that? None of us have any idea what goes on behind closed doors. The only source we have is this website, which isn’t fact. Which is why it’s called mlbtradeRUMORS.
I’d like to read the things that you’re referring to. I’ve seen nothing from Tanaka or any of his representatives that suggests he has any preference. I’ve read plenty of posts from fans of other teams suggesting he would or wouldn’t want to play on a particular team. I’ve read plenty of articles by various sports writers guessing where he may end up. However, I’ve not seen anything directly attributed to Tanaka or his representatives so I’d sure like to see those quotes. Thanks.
mlbtraderumors.com/2014/01/masahiro-tanaka-rumors-…
This won’t let me post links, but on MLBTR there was a Masahiro Tanaka Rumors: Sunday article.
Elliott’s source also outlined what Tanaka will be seeking from potential suitors. “Tanaka wants to go to a World Series, wants a city where his family will feel at home since they don’t speak English. He has a desire to be on a team with potential to win and loves the pressure.”
And I also saw another article about it, except I can’t quite recall where I saw it. I guess this quote doesn’t really say he wants to be on a current contender though. I also read that he’s interested in playing in LA or NY, whether that be due to the teams or the cities
Was he going to write an article saying “He wants to go to a team in the middle of nowhere with no Japanese population and one that won’t win a world series for the duration of the contract”?
Let’s be reasonable, all articles about his preferences are simply speculation based on what people value if THEY were in his situation.
the cubs aren’t getting Tanaka.. they are just trying to please the fan base by having the media report the are trying to do everything to sign him. they wont get him and then just sign some middle of the road starter to trade at the deadline
Although at the end of it I think he does not end up with the Cubs I feel like they have a legit shot. I think they are willing to throw the most money at him and depending how much higher they are willing to go may make Tanaka rethink what he really wants. I feel as though cubs probably made an offer of 6/125 to start and tell his agent “if he gets a better offer let us know” sort of thing. I also don’t think the Japanese population is as dismal as people are saying. I don’t think it’s huge by any means but I went to a lot of cubs games when Fukudome was there and the stands were flooded with Japanese fans.
Garza is still avail lol
Tanaka will only pitch 1 of every 5. You can’t contend if you lose between 2-3 of every 5. Tanaka will eventually lose. He may pitch well but could still lose1-0.
The problem with the Cubs last year was their offense was horrendous, and the bullpen blew so many games, their starters were actually decent
And their offense was not even as bad it was their defense and the bullpen that was more horrendous than the offense
Truth. Base running defense offense… Relievers….basically everything aside from the starters was putrid
I would have to disagree. Wood will be solid and so would Tanaka. Jackson and Shark would be pretty good. Then add either Arieta or Rusin will help them out as well i think they will lose 1 or 2 games every 5
Hahaha I love the Cubs but that is the most absurd statement I have read in awhile. No way this Cubs team wins anywhere near 90 games. And just for fun we will use your average of winning 3.5 games of every 5, that puts them at 112 wins and historically good
Im not saying it will be every week but there will a few weeks where it will 1 or 2 loses for the most part it will be 2-3 but the cubs will win 70-80 to games this year and contend next year
If you meant the pitchers keep them in games 3-4 out of every 5 games, I can agree with you there, except Jackson needs a major rebound year
I think Jackson was serviceable last year. Samardjza had the bad year last year.
8-18 with a 5 ERA is pretty bad, he had one blowup inning every game. Shark was good until July then he was awful
FIP was very good. Lot of his ERA was just inflated with bad luck. well I don’t think he’s terrible
I will agree, when he had his blow up inning it usually started with an error and then it looked as if he gave up
But in the end you agree the rotation with Tanaka will be serviceable and could win the cubs 70-80 games depending on if the offense can compete.
I do agree. The bullpen will be a strength this year, add Tanaka the rotation would be above average and then it comes down to if Castro, Rizzo and Olt can rebound, because you pretty much know what you are getting with everybody else
Rizzo should rebound and rumors have it the legal situation with Castro and his contract was probably a factor last year.
Olt
I agree Jackson’s results weren’t good last year, but he pitched better than his results. His FIP, 3.79 and xFIP 3.86 were in line with his recent career totals. From 2010-2012 he had a 3.75 FIP and 3.74 xFIP to go along with an ERA of 4.10 and ERA+ of 100. I expect Jackson’s results next year to look more like his 2010-2012 results and place him as a league average starter. Not bad for the back end of your rotation.
The problem is he’s a career back of the end rotation guy and the Cubs paid him like a #2 or #3 and expected to see stats accordingly.Jackson has been living off his no hitter since 08
I’m not a Cubs fan and don’t really care too much about what they paid him. I will say in his defense though, isn’t a league average starter a #3? Last year there were only 64 SP with 150+ IP and an ERA <4.00. The 75th ranked SP had an ERA of 4.32. A SP with a low 4's ERA is a #3.
his no-hitter was in June of 2010
Actually a portion of the $52 million that was guaranteed to Jackson was as signing bonus, he’s only making about $8-10 million a year, which in this market, is just about market value fro the kind of pitcher he is, so he isn’t being paid like a number 2 or 3 like you said. It seems to me that most people haven’t realized how inflated the SP market is nowadays. Average pitchers are getting what used to be above average money.
>Record
>ERA
I prefect the cubbies made a 6 years 120 offer? Anyone thinking the same?
I’m guessing a bit higher, 6/132 maybe, just to try to set themselves ahead of NY/LA.
Not that I want that, but they have to make up for a few factors other teams can pitch to him.
Id take those and be happy with the money. Heck you want to offer 6 at 140-145 go ahead. Front end Free agent pitchers don’t come along often.
It will take 8-10 years at $20 million a pop to sign him. Add to that an opt out clause in 5 years.
That would give him one of the biggest contracts to a pitcher ever. He’s never pitched in the majors.
Bidding started, by most accounts, at 6 years $17 million. To go 2 more years and $3 million more a year is not a big jump. 8 years at $20 million is $160 million. Now insert Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, Angels and at least 5 more teams and may the highest bid win. $200 million I would not surprise me at all.
No one knows a single thing about what Tanaka has been offered. The early projection and perception when he was posted was that a $120MM contract was a very real possibility.
Things might escalate where teams have a “bidding war” but it is VERY unlikely that it jumps another $80MM. The odds of an owner/GM risking $200MM on a player who is essentially a prospect is pretty damn low. Anything is possible but I would easily bet against you that it won’t happen.
People need to calm down about what they think Tanaka will make. There has been zero evidence about salary. In fact, there has been zero evidence for anything Tanaka related. It’s all been speculation and rumors. We don’t even know which teams met with him in Los Angeles! We don’t really know anything!
No way he’s getting $200 million. There’s no way he gets more guarunteed money than guys like Felix, Verlander, Greinke, and Sabathia. Unlike Tanaka; they proved they were aces in this league for years and didn’t get $200 million.
Tanaka will not get 160 to 200 million.. Kershaw is widely reguarded as the best got just over 200 million.. No one is quite sure what Tanaka will be.. But its clear he wont be Kershaw or Verlander..
Less than a week to go. Time to turn the heat back up on this stove.
Too bad the Japanese community in Chicago is really small. He’ll end up on the west coast or NYC if that is a big factor.
Honestly I have no idea who leads Casey close is doing a good job keeping this quiet
It’s a win-win for the FO, they show the fans they are willing to spend in the right situation or they sign him
I can’t wait for him to sign so we can get on with the rest of the off season deals. It will be interesting to see how fast teams react to the Ubaldo’s, Garza’s, Santana’s & Arroyo’s of the world once Tanaka is signed.
My gut tells me the Dodgers get Tanaka. With the money they’ll offer & their location it will be tough to outbid them.
Wrong side of Chicago buddy. Come to the South Side!
For what an even longer rebuild and having hawk harelson eventually say he doesn’t have the will to win. The sox have a long long road to contention. Good luck with Alexi and Beckham
The White Sox are closer to contention than the Cubs and I have never heard Hawk say that…
They finished with the third and fourth worst records, neither are contending this year and the future is all speculation because prospects rarely turn out.
Saying prospects “rarely turn out” is a stretch as nobody would pay any attention to farm systems if this was the case.
It’s really not that much of a stretch. BA top 100 prospects bust about 70% of the time. That means only 3 out of 10 average more than 1.5 fWAR/season.
I’ll disagree there. They have little in the way of prospects and their lineup is underwhelming. Chris sale is nice but the rest of the staff is no better than the cubs. That and the tigers. How do the sox beat them. Google the hawk line it’s a classic on 670 the score. Hawk is without a doubt the single worst announcer in all of sports, in my opinion.
…the White Sox have acquired a number of prospects this offseason….Eaton…Davidson…Abreau…already
The White Sox also have Sale, Quintana, and erik Johnson for the rotation
The sox actually have made some really good moves this offseason. However after Sale the Cubs have a better rotation. Plus a lot of people are over looking how good Jake Arrieta stuff is. When that guy is on he’s as good as anyone in baseball the problem with him is walks. If the cubs can get a handle on him and sign Tanaka then Jackson is your 5th starter and that isn’t a bad rotation with Samardija and wood.
I know Hawk can get annoying and is a total homer to the extreme,and it’s tough for people to like him,but he at least says some stuff that makes you laugh or even wonder what he’s doing,but casper and bob for the cubs could put a crying baby to sleep with how boring they are, I know the cubs are bad but they aren’t helping.
Actually Bob left, now they have J.D. who is the worst I have ever heard and I am a Cubs fan
I like Len. They just need someone good to put next to him.
Len is fantastic. He really is. He does so much with so little
yeah I hate the cubs guys. I never thought I’d miss chip, but now that we have len…
I’m not even a cubs fan but when chip and steve had the booth the games were much better narrated then casper and co.
I have always liked Steve Stone but he has never been the most upbeat announcer. As for Hawk he is terrible and is regarded as one of the worst announcers in baseball. Also having watched both team for many years I can tell you that I would rather listen to Len and Bob or Len and Jim over Hawk and Steve any day. Now Len Casper is the best of that group, but Jim D. is horrible, and Brenly wasn’t bad but not great.
The Sox have at least two starters who are better than the Cubs’ best, and they’re adding a top prospect to the rotation. They just turned over 4/9 of their lineup in six months. Their farm system is improving and they had a very good 2013 draft. The Cubs got a 2-year head start on the rebuild, yet the Sox still look at least close to contention.
What part of last year looked close to contention for the sox? I agree the cubs do have a 2 year head start. How do you get past the tigers? Pray for injury? The sox are now at least acknowledging it’s a rebuild. I think Rick Hawn (spelling?) is there best asset. He’s smart. Even if the draft in 2013 was good those guys are years away. The sox need to rebuild from the ground up. I think reading Sale would be smart . He’s injury prone and his delivery is going to cost him down the road. The stop gap stuff isn’t working for the sox. I know you have to field a team but it’s a bleak 5 years plus for the sox
The fact is the sox have acquired mlb ready players in exchange for a decent closer and a starter that was probably going to be a solid 4 or 5. HAHN has said this hybrid rebuild should have them competing by 2015 and from the moves he’s making he’s all but backing up his plan, I don’t put down the Cubs effort to rebuild (not like they had a choice) but the fact the Epstein is putting all his eggs into the likes of Bryant and Almora who will probably be legit very good players(in 4 or 5 yrs), is honestly 100% boom or bust.because the rest of these prospects(i.e Olt)are toss ups. And the Cubs rotation was solid last year but you obviously don’t watch any White Sox baseball if you’re making those statements about the White sox rotation.
I’m sorry, who are these great pitchers after Sale and Quintana? And I’m not ready to anoint Quintana yet. What does major league ready mean? The Sox have question marks at catcher, 3B, 2B and CF. And they are hoping a platoon works in left. They should get production out of there 3 first basemen.
Did you honestly say sale is injury prone?
Please tell me who you believe the White Sox have behind Sale that is better than Samardzija. I mean I know he’s not an actual ace, but he’s better than Quintana. I wouldn’t even go as far to say Quintana’s better than Wood, at this loin in their careers, they look very like very comparable pitchers. I agree the Sox have a true ace in Sale so they’re better off there, but the rest of the rotation is much better for the Cubs
Quintana and Samardzija are closer as pitchers than Wood and Quintana at this point. Wood has been pretty bad up until last year… I’ll wait for him to repeat that performance before I start overvaluing him
And the Sox should have a lot of faith in Coop to develop pitchers going forward. Hahn needs to fill the farm with more starters that have some plus-pitches to develop and let Coop get after it. Coops’s taken guys with average-at-best stuff and turned them into solid options. I’d love to see what he can do with some more talent to work with.
I love the Cubs but why on earth would he come here, the sushi in chicago is horrible!
Jokes aside, I would like him to come but we’re not even close to contending. Also if there is any truth to his west coast preference his wife is a huge Japanese pop star. Sounds like Hollywood is the place to be.
But seriously the sushi here is bad…
Can we all focus on the real free agent vacancy for the cubs: who’s going to be the new Clark the mascot?!? Won’t someone think of the children?!?
Steve Bartman
No
Ronny Woo Woo
Poochie.
Seattle Mariners could sign Masahiro Tanaka next week….
So can the Yankees,,,,,,,and Dodgers……and White Sox……and about 4 or 5 other teams. But thanks for the update.
Tanaka and his agent asked for privacy. Notice how teams like the Yankees, angels, mariners, and even the dodgers to a certain extent have kept their intentions hush hush.
We know close and tanaka didn’t reveal this info. So if true what purpose would the Cubs management have in releasing this? I think mostly to let their fans think they actually tried when in the end they come up short.
To me, the teams in the lead are the ones who are staying extremely quiet. I predict the Yankees who we’ve heard nothing from and hasn’t leaked any information about tanaka to win this thing.
Exactly! Everyone else has been so quiet about this except the Cubs. I’m really starting to think its just to please their fanbase. But in the end I think it will be Yanks/Dodgers
I don’t think bruce levine knows anything at all. he’s the same guy who floated out the idea greg maddux being interested in coming in as pitching coach before renteria was hired. as a chicago-an, it comes off as bruce just trying to get his name out there with some news he knows the chicago media will gobble up, that can’t be confirmed or denied.
And I don’t think Gordon Wittenmyer has ever said anything positive about the Cubs, granted there is rarely positives but he is a downer
That guy is the Chris Broussard of Chicago Baseball, both sides of town.
Sorry to burst Mr. Tanaka’s bubble, but realistically there are only about 3-4 cities with baseball teams that have a significant Japanese population. SF isn’t interested, which leaves Seattle, NYC and Los Angeles. And even then, according to wikipedia, there is only a 1.3% Japanese presence in Seattle… Even NYC doesn’t have a very large Japanese population relatively speaking and what Japanese they do have are usually short term students or business people, which leaves basically just LA. If he’s truly that concerned about a Japanese presence, than he basically might as well just say, “I only want to go to the Angels or Dodgers”. The US just doesn’t have a large Japanese immigrant population when compared to other ethnic groups, so I’m not really sure what he’s looking for. Although something tells me that if the Cubs offer him 170MM or something, suddenly he’ll find the other 3 Japanese people in Chicago…
The Tanaka sweepstakes is actually kinda boring as we get so little concrete info so we don’t have much to talk about
Man, Cubs are a long shot to laand this guy, did anyone read the whole article? It clearly states that even Cubs brass is awarr of their slim chances, not tention that their sales pitch to him was “come join a team that might compete within two seasons”. All Tanaka has to do is look at the Dodger and Yankee rosters, which are playoff ready with or without him. The Cubs are really dreaming of they think he’ll choose them over an evil empire. :/
The Yankees do not have a playoff team without Tanaka. Their starting pitching is miserable. I think everyone would pick at least the Rays and Red Sox to be ahead of them. And in the league I’d also put the A’s, Rangers, Tigers, Indians, and Royals ahead of them with the Orioles at the same spot or slightly below.
My friend I think you greatly underestimate the Yankees and greatly overestimate at the very least the Indians, Royals and Orioles. Keep in mind Tanaka is not the only FA still available on the market and there are still 2 1/2 months until the season starts. A lot of time for the rosters of teams to change.
Well the Indians were 6 (?) games better last year and are about the same, the Royals were a game better and have gotten a little better, and the Orioles had the same record and have dropped slightly (all my opinion). The Yankees, in my opinion, have gotten just slightly better, maybe an extra couple wins. So I don’t think it’s crazy to think the Royals and Indians will be better teams. Of course they might not be, nobody could tell, I’m just basing it off last year and the acquisitions of each team, as I see them. Realistically, with rosters as they are now, I see the Yankees missing the playoffs. I think Tanaka could definitely push them over the edge though. They need pitching badly.
I beg to differ with you the Yankees lost 16 games last year by 1 run because their offense was pathetic last year. Yes the Yankees lost Cano but he’s really the only good player the Yankees lost versus bring in: McCann, Beltran and Ellsbury. Tex is healthier this year as is Jeter. Everyone or at least some people like to talk about how bad the Yankees infield look right now.those people/fans must never have watched a Yankees game last season the hodgepodge of players the Yankees had man 1st,,SS and 3rd were pathetic. And forget DH before Soriano showed up at the end of the season. How soon fans forget “no can hit” Ben Francisco batted clean up and DH’ed a number of times last year for the Yankees.
Even if the Yankees don’t sign another starter which I doubt will be the cas is their starting rotaion really that much worse than last year? I don’t think so. CC was terrible last year and he was never really healthy for most of the season. That isn’t and won’t be the case this year. Nova started to come into his own the 2nd half of last year. He a year old and more mature with more experience just my opinion but I think he will be better. Kuroda will be his usual self which is pretty darn good. Yes, the Yankees lost Pettitte and Hughes, thank god for Hughes going. Pettitte and Hughes combined for 15 wins last year, someone can’t tell me that even if the Yankees don’t sign any other starters they can’t get 15 wins out of some combination of: Phelps/Warren/Pineda and Nuno.
Have faith, yes the Yankees could use another quality starter but the start of the season is a long way off and even if it doesn’t happen by then doesn’t mean it won’t happen during the season. .
Let’s not forget about the Luis Cruz’s, Brent Lillibridges, Overbay in the outfield, Vernon Wells at third, etc.
Exactly
And Travis Ishikawa!
Actually last year the Yankees outperformed their Pythagoreon record by about 7 or 8 wins, so that argument is completely moot.
And I just disagree with you about their rotation. Kuroda tailed off badly in the second half last year, so with his age he’s not a given. Sabathia is no guarantee, he’s pitched a ridiculous amount of innings for his age. I think he’ll be a solid 3 or so this year. And Nova has bounced between being a solid 2 or 3 starter to being barely above replacement level over the last few years. It’s hard to tell exactly where he’ll be. I’d say about a 3 starter as well for him. And please don’t even mention pitcher wins, they are meaningless.
All I can tell you my friend is you appear to see the glass as less then half full and that’ is your right. I see the glass as far more full then it was last year.
Just by way of clarification Kuroda struggled in 6 of his last 7 starts starting with his Aug 23rd start. That’s not exactly the 2nd half of the season. It’s more like the last quarter of the season. I like how you hone in on Kuroda struggling in the latter part of 2013 to predict his performance. But at the same time pretty much skip over how well Nova pitched pretty much from June 2013 on 17 starts and focus on his 3 year overall performance which admittedly is not that impressive. .
I guess we will see which one of us is right about CC/Kuroda and Nova as the season progresses. Have a good day.
Just to clarify on the Nova/Kuroda part, I think Kuroda’s performance could be a trend because of his age. And Nova has a history of his performance bouncing up and down. Although, like I said, I’d say he’d be a solid 3 starter or so, which is closer to his good years than his bad years.
I just think the Yankees have a huge range of wins for next year. I could see them winning 95, although I think it’s unlikely. I could also see them winning 75, although equally unlikely. In the end I see them right around the middle, at 85-88 wins or so. But yeah, who knows, just have to wait and see.
95 wins? Wow, I just don’t see that unless they secure a front line starter plus shore up the rest of the staff.
If they don’t go all out for Tanaka, I think they’ll regret it. The situation is compounded by Kuroda likely leaving or retiring after 2014.
Santana and Garza can easily fall to 4.00 ERA guys pitching half their games at Yankee Stadium. So I don’t see them as adequate unless they get a #1 or #2 type.
That would be my absolute best case scenario for them. Meaning, for the pitching, Sabathia bounces back in a big way, Nova gets better, and Kuroda pitches like he did the first 4 months of last season. Would also mean they have about no injuries to their entire offense seeing as they have almost no depth.
Indians were a mediocre team last year competing in a weak division. They did not stand a chance against the Yankees last year and that’s when most of their starters were on the disabled list. I remember because I was there when they played them at the stadium. Royals haven’t gotten that much better like you said. The Yankees pitching was not that bad last year but it wasn’t great. If you replace Phil Hughes with Tanaka they are better than any of the teams you just mentioned.
You can’t judge a team based on one series, that’s asinine. And the Royals lost Santana, but added Aoki, Vargas, and Infante. I think that’s a pretty decent improvement.
Yeah , I understand your bias, but objectively speaking, the Yankees are a playoff contender. To say that half the AL is better is unrealistic. But adding Tanaka will suddenly propel them to WS contention right? Get a grip.
Actually projections have them pretty much where I said. And I think Tanaka will put them in a good spot to grab a wild card, which does put them in world series contention since the playoffs are a crapshoot. I think it’s still possible for them to grab a wild card now, but Tanaka makes it much more realistic.
The blue jays are also projected ahead of them by ZIPS
Not surprising at all, the Blue Jays were hit harder by injuries than any team in the MLB last year. If they add a legit starter they’ll be in the playoff run too. Might e there without adding anyone if they stay mostly healthy.
Yankees are playoff ready? And let me guess the Dodgers will win the World Series. Look at that Yankee infield and rotation and tell me exactly how it is playoff worthy. The Rays and Red Sox are easily the favorites to win that division. A lot would have to go right for this Yankee team (as is) for the Yankees to make the playoffs.
The only reply I have for that is who would have picked the Red Sox to have been tied for the best record in MLB and win the World Series last year 2 plus months before the 2013 season? NO one that’s who.
Anyone with baseball knowledge knew Red Sox would compete. It was just the media that went crazy with the whole break down and ignored the signings they made and prospects they had.
“Compete” is a completely different from what I talked about above. Compete yes, but have tied for the best record in MLB and win the world series. No one predicted that, no one.
The Red Sox had a better situation than the current Yankees in my opinion. They did not have as many glaring holes. I’m not sure how Yankee fans can look at that infield and not be disgusted. Other than McCann who else can you trust in the infield? No idea why the Yankees aren’t after Drew as he seems like an ideal fit. Tell Jeter he has to move to 2nd and thats that.
Interesting, a source tells Levine the Cubs are the “lead team”. Now unless that source is a member of Tanaka’s or Casey Close his agents inner circle that “source” has no more information then anyone on this board.
Levine wouldn’t put his journalistic credibility at stake unless it was a reliable source, I’m guessing.
Well it’s not exactly like it would get hurt
The Toronto Japanese community is only about 12,500 but Toronto has a huge population of Asian origin and over 49% of the population is termed “visible minority”. In the world, Toronto and Miami are considered about tie for the largest foreign-born populations, at about half. So the question is does that really mean anything to Tanaka and his wife? Behind New York and LA, Toronto is the third largest city in MLB. Will that matter?
How big is the Chicago Japanese community?
Bigger question still is where have teams such as the Yankees and Dodgers drawn the line on their salary offers? If they’re firm, the Cubs or another team could sneak in and grab Tanaka. Then it’s up to him, and his agents, to determine the potential lost salary for trying to sign with a team close to winning the World Series.
When Cubs ownership signed Theo and committed to Wrigley investments, they sent a message. Will they try to amplify that? How will Tanaka fit into a larger strategy?
According to a January 7, 2014 report the Asian Community of Chicago makes up 5.5% of the Cities population. That’s all Asians though Japanese, Chinese, etc…Based on an estimated total population of 2.7MM according to a 2012 estimate, that comes to about 150,000 in the total Asian Community.
Using the same guidelines for just NY City the total Asian Community comes out to about $1.1MM residents
Using the same guidelines for just the city of Los Angeles the total Asian Community comes to about 450,000
Huh? Aside from the fact that the stat is misleading, it’s meaningless. That said, according to the 2010 Census, the LA/LB/OC Metro area has the highest number of Asian Americans in the US at just over 1.88 million. NYC/northern NJ/PA comes in 2nd at 1.87 million.
If it’s going to come down to the size of the Japanese American community, then it will probably be either LA or NY, but I’d say it would be silly to think that will be the primary reason for his choice.
No argument here. BTW, that’s exactly the reason I was careful to mention the stat applied to the “cities”.
No worries. More than anything, I just wanted to point out that the numbers for LA were on the low side, when you consider how spread out it is.
Pssssht. I’ll believe they’re the lead team when the dodgers and yankees start whining openly about being unable to sign him.
Probably a Cubs source so that the team makes it “look” like they tried really really hard to sign him.
My belief is that because the Cubs are so bad, that it won’t necessarily come down to dollars, but lack of competitiveness. This is the unintended consequence of sucking that I doubt the Cubs ownership saw coming.
“A source” is overdramatizing things severely. Lets see how the Cubs’ offer holds up for the next week. I guarantee you won’t hear a word out of Chicago all next week. Dodgers and Yankees are in position to out-negotiate any competitor.
No way he’s signing with the cubs unless they offered 150 plus. Only reason they’re the lead team is because other teams havent made offers yet.
I’d fell bad for tanaka if he did go to the cubs, wouldn’t win anything with them.
Really? Then you are clueless about the Calvary that is arriving over the next couple of years. Tanaka had a similar situation in Japan. Taking a losing team for worst to first. Granted the Cubs will have to outbid both NY and LA, especially LA, as they are built to win now. But Tanaka may very well savor the opportunity to do something historically significant for the Cubs. Do I speak from authority or insight knowledge? No. But that is why I use words like “may” as I would not for a minute be so arrogant to pretend I know one way or the other what Tanaka will do.
Just because the cubs have players coming up means nothing, they might not even pan out
Also do you forget the cubs haven’t won in OVER 100 years.
The probability is against them that that trend will continue for a long time.
That’s a pretty big “if” to rely on your prospects to all pan out.
I could be wrong, but I assume that any team that is claimed to be in the lead to sign Tanaka is the team that will not sign him. Information being leaked like this is to try and get some other team in play here to increase their offer.
I agree with you Rob. I’m guessing Bruce Levine’s source is Tanaka’s agent himself.
Of course they are, the next report will be the White Sox or the Mariners will be the team in the lead. The only reason the Cubs are the lead team is because they’re prob the only team that has offered money at this point. Once other teams start offering money we prob won’t hear about the Cubs being in the lead. I’ll be surprised at this point if he doesn’t sign with the Yankees or Dodgers, they play in the best markets and they have more than enough money to outbid anyone unless another team pulls a Mariners with Cano and offer him a ridiculous contract that Tanaka can’t say no.
A ridiculous contract offer is what is likely coming, as the Cubs have made it known they will not be outbid. Of course ultimately they might be, but the Cubs gutted their payroll, so they can pay a ridiculous amount of money without luxury tax implications. The Yankees and Dodgers are already into that tax big time, so it depends how much of a tax premium they are willing to pay on top of the premium contract.
The Dodgers won’t have luxury tax issues any time soon.
Won’t they be hit with 30% this year? Their payroll if they sign tanaka might be around 260-270 million.
Not sure but I don’t think they need to worry about the luxury tax until a couple more years when they are where the Yankees are now.
Pretty sure other teams have said “they won’t be outbid”
You really believe with less than a week to go, the Cubs are the only ones with an offer? Please?
It was reported that at least 5 teams made an offer by the 16th.
I think the Astros are the mystery team
I don’t know how to say “Big Mistake” in Japanese but I think the equivalent in English might be, “I’ll sign with the Cubs.”
If the cubs want him they’ll have to toss 7 years 145+ mill at Tanaka. Matching the 6 year 120 mill other teams offer won’t work; he’ll choose more desirable places. They’ll have to outbid the Yankees dodgers angels etc.
The only thing this tells me is that the Cubs are outbidding themselves. If so, wake me up when something substantive happens.
The Cubs are set up for a massive PR bomb here, similar to the Blue Jays with Darvish. All indicated interest has come from them, the Dodgers, the Yankees, and some from the Angels. Makes me wonder how much of it is just idle speculation based on the cities involved and how much is coming from meaningful sources.
Agreed. There’s something about the Ricketts’ situation that is eerily similar to that of McCourt when he owned the Dodgers. Not a good thing when your owner is that heavily leveraged. That’s why I can’t really see how they will overpay to sign Tanaka.
Ricketts needs Tanaka to help build a new TV deal. The added revenue streams from that will be huge in helping address the debt. With so many young, very talented players under their control for many years to come. Hence the can afford Tanaka, and a few other FA’s without going over the luxury tax threshold.
I don’t think that the Cubs need Tanaka to reign in a big TV deal. If that is truly the case, then they have much bigger issues. Third largest market in the US – that alone should seal the deal.
Leveraged? Just announced today $300 million dollar reno with ricketts money only..
Ricketts took on 500 million in debt to buy the team he is definitely leveraged
I don’t think so. Not many in Chicago expect him to come here. Not much they can do except offer top dollar. If he decides to sign elsewhere, oh we’ll, you move on. I don’t think it hurts the organization.
Has anyone considered an offer with an opt-out clause after 4-5 years. A front loaded deal with the opt-out might get him here. It gives him the money and the choice of opting out after 4-5 years if things are going bad for the team or him. He could be a free agent again at 30 years old. I believe I remember shortly after Epstein was hired, Ricketts said that Epstein has the go-ahead on anything he feels is in the best interest of the team going forward. My opinion is this; if they land Tanaka, the cubs will make additional moves too. I feel that things are heading in a positive direction. We will see them in October soon. GO CUBS GO!
“We will see them in October soon.” ….
In cubs years ….Yes!
The advantage the Cubs have is a low team payroll for the next couple of years. They can massively front load their offer, and including a signing bonus, it could total 70 million in the first 2 years. And like any lottery winner, Tanaka should go for the lump sum upfront.
I do love the Cubs but why on earth would he come here, the sushi in chicago is horrible!
Jokes aside, I would like him to come but we’re not even close to
contending. Also if there is any truth to his west coast preference his
wife is a huge Japanese pop star. Sounds like Hollywood is the place
to be.
But seriously the sushi here is bad…
They are not going to contend now, but when they do, the team can’t just say “ready, set, let’s get an ace” they need to start collecting the pieces now, to be ready in 2 years (or so). And I would much rather see them spend money to do it, than trade their top prospects to get one.
Oh, and from Chicago, his wife can hop on her Learjet, and be anywhere in the US in about 3 hours.
Here’s to hoping Gary. I heard the team he was with when he won the title in Japan was in the same situation as the Cubs and he helped them turn it around. Hopefully he’ll want to be part of that again.
Yankee fans say ohh yea hes coming for sure. This comes to show you how great the game is today. Also if the Yankees miss out on him. Boy they look like a third place team. For many years to coming.