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Masahiro Tanaka

Yankees Could Dole Out ~$300MM In Total Salary

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The Yankees, as we all know, are working on a plan to keep their payroll below $189MM to reduce their luxury tax bill.  However, that doesn't mean they'll be totally handcuffed this offseason.  The front office is currently working on a plan to stay under budget and spent roughly $300MM in total, sources tell Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com. 

The Yankees' initial main targets, besides re-signing Robinson Cano, are Masahiro Tanaka, Braves catcher Brian McCann, and Cardinals outfielder Carlos Beltran, according to sources.  The Bombers believe they can add at least two top free agents this winter without breaking the bank.

A source estimates the Yankees are shedding $85MM-$90MM in payroll this winter, which includes the salaries of retiring players Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte as well as free agents Hiroki Kuroda, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Curtis Granderson.  The Yankees have a strong interest in keeping Kuroda and would be open to Granderson if he accepted the one-year qualifying offer, but they aren't obligated to either player.  Beyond that, Derek Jeter exercising his $9.5MM player option (down from $17MM last year) and Alex Rodriguez's suspension being upheld would also help the cause.

Cano and Tanaka appear to be the Bombers' top two targets.  A source said the Yankees realize that Tanaka, while making baseball sense, would also demonstrate ownership's stated goal to reinvest the savings from falling beneath the $189MM threshold.  Beltran, another Yanks target, reportedly pushed to sign with the Bombers during his previous two trips through free agency and is eager to find his way to the Bronx this winter.

Reactions To Jose Dariel Abreu Signing With White Sox

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Last night, the White Sox signed Cuban first baseman Jose Dariel Abreu to a six-year, $68MM deal – the largest ever for an international free agent and the most lucrative deal for any White Sox player in club history.  Abreu turned heads in his showcases for clubs earlier this month and had serious interest from the Red Sox, Astros, Rangers, Marlins, and Giants.  Here's a look at the latest reactions to the deal..

  • Sources tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links) that bidding for Abreu was fast and furious with four clubs bidding between $63MM and $66M.  It's not known which four teams put those bids down, but the White Sox’s winning bid of $68MM wasn't excessive.
  • While Abreu’s power is impressive, scouts are split over whether his power will translate against major league pitching, writes Ben Badler of Baseball America.  Some consider his bat speed is just average and he appears vulnerable to good fastballs on the inner third of the plate.  The first baseman lacks the athleticism of fellow Cuban stars Yoenis Cespedes and Yasiel Puig.
  • The scouting consensus is that Masahiro Tanaka is better than Abreu and the total price tag for the Japanese hurler should be going up, tweets Badler.  
  • While some are up in arms about Abreu's price tag, Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors (via Twitter) notes that there is plenty chance for Abreu to be something between boom or bust at $11.3MM annually.
  • It’s interesting that the White Sox signed Abreu to a hefty deal without having publicly disclosed future of first baseman Paul Konerko yet, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd).  It's possible the veteran has already indicated that he will probably retire or maybe the White Sox determined that Abreu is the first baseman of the future, no matter what.  

Quick Hits: Rangers, Price, Rodon, Cubs

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Nolan Ryan might be missing out on a really fun offseason.  Rival talent evaluators believe that the Rangers are going to be very aggressive this winter and pursue the likes of David Price, Masahiro Tanaka, and Brian McCann, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (via Twitter).  Texas is eager to right the ship after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2009.  Here's more from around baseball..

  • The 2014 draft class has potential to be the best class since 2011, write John Manuel and Clint Longenecker of Baseball America.  Left-hander Carlos Rodon stands out as the top talent in the group while power pitcher Jeff Hoffman would be the No. 2 pick if the draft was today.
  • Top international prospects Eloy Jimenez and Gleyber Torres are pretty far along in their development considering that they're just 16, but they'll be working to adjust to the U.S. culturally, writes MLB.com's Carrie Muskat.  "They're not raw in their physical abilities, it's just being raw to the United States, how things are run," said Cubs Minor League hitting coordinator Anthony Iapoce. "As far as the way they play the game, they're pretty advanced for 16 years old. They're not raw as far as their tools. Their tools are in place."
  • Pirates first baseman Justin Morneau will look to sign with a winner this offseason, writes Sid Hartman of the Star-Tribune.  Because of that, a return to the Twins seems highly unlikely, unless he finds an extremely weak market for his services.

Sherman’s Latest: Tanaka, Kuroda, Red Sox

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On Friday it was reported that the Yankees are expected to be serious players for Japanese ace Masahiro Tanaka. While many teams figure to be in the mix, the New York Post's Joel Sherman offered up a look at why the Yankees, specifically, will be motivated to sign Tanaka. Here are some of the highlights from Sherman's latest work…

  • The Yankees want to re-energize their fanbase and generate interest in buying tickets again, and adding Tanaka would allow them to do so without shattering the luxury tax threshold, as the posting fee wouldn't go against that figure. Sherman spoke with multiple executives who told him that each team is set to receive about $25MM from national TV revenue, and the Yankees also received a good chunk of money when News Corp. bought 49 percent of the YES Network. As Sherman puts it: "The Yanks have a big pile of newfound money to use lavishly for a posting bid."
  • Sherman also lists the Red Sox, Rangers, Giants, Diamondbacks and Blue Jays as suitors for Tanaka.
  • The Yankees may be extra-motivated to sign Tanaka due to the fact that many within the organization believe Hiroki Kuroda is leaning toward returning to Japan to finish his career.
  • In a separate piece, Sherman writes that Boston's decision on whether or not to tender qualifying offers to Jacoby Ellsbury, Stephen Drew, Mike Napoli and Jarrod Saltalamacchia will shape the market. Sherman spoke with four Major League executives — two from the AL and two from the NL — and asked about the Red Sox quartet's chances at receiving a qualifying offer. All four agreed that Ellsbury will receive one. Both AL execs and one of the NL expected Napoli to receive an offer, while just one of the NL execs thought that Drew and Saltalamacchia would get offers. Sherman offers his own expectation as well, predicting that all four will receive qualifying offers.

Yankees Expected To Aggressively Pursue Tanaka

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Masahiro Tanaka's video-game numbers for NPB's Rakuten Golden Eagles this season have turned quite a few heads in the United States, and according to George A. King III of the New York Post, the Yankees "are going to be serious players" for the Japanese ace.

King spoke with several executives who guessed that the posting fee for Tanaka could go as high as $60MM, but the Yankees aren't overly concerned about that number given the fact that the posting fee wouldn't count against their stated desire to get underneath baseball's $189MM luxury tax threshhold. The expected $50-60MM contract that would go along with such a posting fee — contract totals are usually in the same ballpark as the posting fee — certainly would.

King writes that assistant GM Billy Eppler and pro scout/former Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu have both watched Tanaka extensively this season. While the common consensus has been that Tanaka is a lesser prospect than Yu Darvish was prior to joining the Majors, King spoke to a scout who prefers Tanaka to Darvish:

"He is better than Darvish because he is a strike thrower," the scout said. "Overall, Darvish’s stuff might be a little bit better, but this guy knows how to pitch. He is like Kuroda, he has a lot of guts. He throws four pitches but when it gets to [stone]-cutting time, it’s fastball and splitter."

Tanaka, who doesn't turn 25 years old until Nov. 1, is 22-0 for the Golden Eagles with a 1.23 ERA. His strikeout rate has dipped slightly from previous seasons, though he still manages nearly eight whiffs per nine innings and has averaged just over one walk per nine innings as well. His splitter is such a wipeout pitch that Baseball America's Ben Badler called it perhaps the best splitter in the world back in late August.

The Yankees will have competition for Tanaka — one talent evaluator told King that the Red Sox, Dodgers and Rangers will be in the mix as well — but they also have a clear need for starting pitching with Andy Pettitte's retirement and Hiroki Kuroda's uncertain future. New York also saw CC Sabathia decline in 2013 and is unsure what, if anything, they can receive in the future from Michael Pineda.

Free Agent Faceoff: Matt Garza vs. Masahiro Tanaka

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For tonight's Free Agent Faceoff entry, we'll look at Matt Garza and Masahiro Tanaka. Teams can be relatively sure of what they'd be getting by signing the former, while the latter has both boom and bust potential.

Garza, 29, has been an above-average starter since his second season with Minnesota in 2007, as he hasn't posted an ERA above 3.95 since his rookie campaign. While he's not a strikeout machine, he gets more than his fair share of Ks – his punchout rates have consistently been above the league average for starters, and that didn't change this season, when he racked up 7.9 per nine innings. Garza appeared to ascend to another level in 2011, when he set a career high in K/9 and also boosted his ground ball rate. However, after struggling with injuries in 2012, he's settled back into being the good, but not great, pitcher that he's been for the majority of his career – a guy who has strikeout stuff and walks fewer batters than the average starter, but also gets a below-average amount of ground balls.

Tanaka is expected to make the jump to MLB this winter after dominating Japanese baseball to the tune of a 1.24 ERA in 181 innings this season. The fact that much of his success comes from limiting walks – his BB/9 in Japan this year is 1.3, and he posted an insane rate of 1.0 per nine last season – is likely to give some teams pause. Two recent Japanese imports, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Yu Darvish, both saw their walk rates spike dramatically when squaring off against major league hitters. And while he's generated plenty of Ks in Japan, his 2013 K/9 of 7.7 suggests his stuff isn't on the same level as Darvish's, as the latter pitcher was striking out almost 11 batters per nine innings by the time he was ready to migrate to the states. Nevertheless, the reports that we've gotten from Baseball America's Ben Badler on Tanaka's arsenal – a low-90s fastball and two plus secondary offerings, including what is "arguably the best splitter in the world" – suggest that the team who ultimately signs him may be snaring a frontline starter. At 24, he's also much younger than Garza.

While signing a free agent starter to a long-term deal is an inherently risky move, Garza is a good bet to provide a team with many quality major league innings. In contrast, as a Japanese pitcher, Tanaka is largely an unknown quantity – Daisuke Matsuzaka has struggled mightily in the U.S., while Darvish is currently among the most valuable starters in baseball. Who would you rather have?

Mets Notes: Murphy, Young, Abreu, Tanaka

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Earlier today, the Mets officially announced their two-year extension of manager Terry Collins' contract. Andy Martino of the New York Daily News reports that pitching coach Dan Warthen also received a two-year contract, making him the only coach on the Mets' staff to secure a multiyear guarantee. Here's more on the Amazins…

  • The team will be open to trading Daniel Murphy this offseason, according to ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin. He cautions that the Mets don't necessarily expect to trade Murphy, but adds that they'll be open to moving him if the trade fills a larger hole like shortstop or the outfield. New York would move Eric Young Jr. to second base in that scenario to keep his much-needed speed in the lineup. Rubin feels that Young, who swiped a league-leading 46 bases this season, will be a starter on next year's team in some capacity.
  • Rubin also notes, once again, that Shin-Soo Choo is the only free agent the Mets would surrender a pick for (he would cost the Mets their second-rounder, as their first is protected). Choo will likely be too expensive for the Mets, however, especially in light of Hunter Pence's five-year, $90MM extension, so the Mets are likely to instead follow Boston's model from last offseason and sign multiple middle-tier free agents to shorter-term deals. Rubin points out that the Mets could make several external additions and still see a decrease in payroll due to the huge contracts they have coming off the books.
  • The Mets have upped their international scouting efforts, which could be a sign that they'll be more active on the global market this winter, tweets Marc Carig of Newsday.
  • Along those same lines, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that the Mets have three scouts in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to watch Jose Dariel Abreu. They also plan to do due diligence on Masahiro Tanaka, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Sherman is careful to add that the Mets are still seen as a long-shot to land Abreu.
  • After talking with a club official, Mike Puma of the New York Post (on Twitter) feels that the Mets will try to "get creative" in a trade for a big-ticket item before going the free agent route. Carig chimes in as well, adding that with so much money coming off the books, the Mets could take on a big contract should they go that route (Twitter link).
  • GM Sandy Alderson told reporters, including DiComo, that he's hopeful the team will be able to make a splash in free agency this offseason (Twitter links).

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Giants Notes: Zito, Abreu, Tanaka

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If he had the choice to do it over again, Giants GM Brian Sabean says he would still have signed Barry Zito to his massive seven-year, $126MM contract, Andrew Baggarly of Comcast Sports Net Bay Area tweets. That's likely merely a case of a GM expressing confidence in and goodwill toward his player, since Zito has essentially been a back-of-the-rotation starter since the contract was signed, never posting an ERA better than his 4.03 mark in 2009. Zito has totaled just 5.9 fWAR over the life of the contract (which expires at the end of the season), making him one of the most overpaid players in baseball history. Here are more notes on the Giants.

  • Sabean is bearish on the free agent market, both for pitching and hitting, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. He will instead prioritize retaining his own players. The Giants will, however, be looking for another starting pitcher, even if they keep Tim Lincecum.
  • Sabean says the window of opportunity that led to the Giants winning the 2012 World Series is now shut, tweets John Shea of the Chronicle. "We've got to create a new window," Sabean says.
  • The Giants aren't likely to be top bidders for international players like Cuban first baseman Jose Abreu or Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, tweets Baggarly. Sabean has scouted Abreu in the Dominican Republic, but Shea writes that the Giants didn't think highly of Abreu's swing or his defense.

AL West Notes: Angels, M’s Ownership, Barton

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The Mariners/Angels game on Sunday at Angel Stadium was twice delayed due to a swarm of bees, as chronicled by MLB.com's Greg Johns.  The initial delay took 23 minutes, as the bees moved from the infield to the outfield and were eventually chased off with the help of John Poto, an apiarist who was attending the game as a fan.  "There was a softball-sized bee colony on the ground. It was amazing. I've never seen that before. That dude just came out of the stands, 'It's OK, I'm a beekeeper.' It was like a Seinfeld episode," C.J. Wilson said.  Poto's assistance didn't go unrewarded, as Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times tweets that Poto received a ball signed by Mike Trout.

Here's the latest buzz (#ObviousPunAlert) from around the AL West…

  • The Angels will try to re-sign Jason Vargas and will likely bid on Masahiro Tanaka as the club tries to fix its pitching situation for next season, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times writes.  While the Halos are 21-8 over their last 29 games, DiGiovanna warns that the team shouldn't let this strong finish convince them that their roster doesn't need upgrades for 2014, particularly in the pitching staff.
  • Mariners team chairman and CEO Howard Lincoln says that team majority owners Nintendo of America "has no plans" to sell their shares, Patti Payne of the Puget Sound Business Journal reports.  There had been some questions about the future of the club's ownership since Hiroshi Yamauchi's passing earlier this week, but Lincoln says that the current Nintendo management and the Mariners' group of minority owners are as committed as ever to the club.
  • The Mariners' ownership news isn't surprising to Ryan Divish of the Tacoma News Tribune, who notes that Nintendo isn't apt to walk away from a profitable business and that Lincoln has enough influence to remain CEO for as long as he wishes.
  • Daric Barton has revived his career and likely earned a spot on the Athletics' postseason roster after a strong September performance, Carl Steward of the Bay Area News Group writes.  Barton, the longest-tenured player on the Oakland roster, struggled in 2011-12 and was twice designated for assignment earlier this year.  After being recalled from Triple-A on August 26, however, Barton has hit .319/.386/.431 in 83 PA.  "He's always had the advantage of the G.M. being a big fan of his," general manager Billy Beane said.  "I think he has all the skills that sometimes don't necessarily show up in the boxscore….And he's really grown up a lot. To see him contribute and be part of these last few weeks has been great and satisfying for all of us in the organization."
  • From earlier today on MLBTR, we published a collection of Rangers notes.

Quick Hits: Rangers, Angels, Carter, Baker

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In an article for ESPN.com, Jayson Stark collects opinions from around baseball on the new wild card game. While the arrangement motivates teams to win their divisions, Braves catcher Brian McCann, a veteran of last year's NL wild card contest, tells Stark that the game doesn't have a playoff atmosphere. "I just feel like, you play 162 games, you win 90-plus, and all of a sudden, it's one game and you're home?" McCann said. Stark's article also covers suggestions on how to address complaints with the one-game format. Here's more links from around the majors:

  • For the Rangers, the season is increasingly looking like a troubling repeat of last year's collapse down the stretch. Looking ahead at possible free agent targets, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets that the team could pursue one of the top international free agents — first baseman Jose Abreu and pitcher Masahiro Tanaka — but not both. Brian McCann will be the team's primary target, however, Grant predicts in another tweet.
  • The Angels' decision to give Friday's start to minor-leaguer Matt Shoemaker isn't an encouraging sign for Tommy Hanson or Joe Blanton, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times writes. Hanson was recalled from Triple-A on Monday, while Blanton has spent the last two months in the bullpen. Though manager Mike Scioscia indicated the club merely wanted to get a look at Shoemaker, DiGiovanna says there's a good chance that Blanton will be released before the 2014 season, while Hanson is a non-tender candidate.
  • The Astros' Chris Carter is aware of his high strikeout total this season, which currently sits at 202 and is the highest in the majors, Gene Duffey writes in an article for MLB.com. "Everybody's talking about it, but I just try to have good at-bats," Carter said. "I want to be around .290. I want to be a complete hitter. I've got to get the strikeouts down and the average up." While Carter's batted just .221 this season, he leads the Astros with 67 walks.
  • White Sox GM Rick Hahn addressed his team's long-term plans in an interview with Scott Merkin of MLB.com. Two of the most significant items in the Sox's budget will be spending in the draft and international market, Hahn says. "Spending to our max in those two areas is important to the long-term sustaining of our success that we are trying to build to," the GM said. "Those will be kind of the first two items, and [they will be] significantly more than the past."
  • Cubs righty Scott Baker says he'd like to return to the club next season, Manny Randhawa of MLB.com reports. "I think it's a wonderful place to play," Baker said. "I kind of feel like with these last few starts, there's less of a question mark about me next year than there was going into this year … Hopefully, whether it's the Cubs or other teams, [they] feel the same way." Baker made just three starts for the Cubs in 2013 after spending most of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Jeff Todd contributed to this post.

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