Post by Admin on Jan 22, 2014 19:30:34 GMT -4
Japanese pitching ace Masahiro Tanaka will sign with the New York Yankees for $155 million over seven years, according to multiple reports.
Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com first reported the deal via Twitter. It includes an opt-out clause after four years.
The Cubs and White Sox were both in on Tanaka, with varying degrees of interest and financial commitment.
Neither Cubs president Theo Epstein nor White Sox general manager Rick Hahn was available for comment.
Dodgers GM Ned Colletti confirmed they made an offer, but told the Los Angeles Times: "We went as far as we thought we could go."
The loss was a bigger one for the Cubs, who put all their offseason eggs in one basket, refraining from signing even mid-level free agents this winter in the hopes the money they saved would help reel in Tanaka.
Now that Tanaka is out of the picture, they figure to save most of the money they would’ve spent, since there are no premier free-agent pitchers remaining.
President Theo Epstein said Saturday at the Cubs Convention that the money they have left could go toward future spending.
“The last couple years we’ve spent every single dollar available to us by this point in the offseason,” he said. “We’ve kept a little bit of our powder dry. We’re always looking for opportunities to add impact players who are the right age. So you want to put yourself in a position to have a chance to do that.
“Our strategy this offseason has been, in part, to allow us to deliver an impact young player if he happens to be out there. And if not, maybe this is the year where we don’t spend all the money that we have and we look forward to spending it on the baseball team — on major league players — down the line when it makes sense.
“We’re not going to spend just to spend.”
The Cubs are likely to seek a starter who will sign for one or two years, perhaps former Cubs lefty Paul Maholm. Jeff Samardzija said last weekend the signing of Tanaka could change his thinking toward signing a long-term extension with the Cubs, feeling the move would signal an urgency to win relatively soon.
The White Sox were considered a long-shot bidder from the outset, and made their biggest offseason splash before the market ever materialized, signing Cuban first baseman Jose Abreu to a six-year, $68 million deal at the end of October.
The Dodgers and Yankees were considered the favorites to sign Tanaka, though Los Angeles just signed Clayton Kershaw to a seven-year, $215 million deal and already has a strong rotation.
The Dodgers reportedly were offering more overall money but not an opt-out clause.
In terms of length and total potential earnings, Tanaka's deal is the fifth-richest for starting pitchers behind Kershaw, Detroit Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners, and Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia.
The Yankees blew past the other offers, overpaying Tanaka to try and get back to the postseason. The salary is certain to outrage some owners, considering Tanaka is unproven at the major league level.
“Market value is what one or more teams are willing to pay today,” Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner told the New York Post. "He is one of the best players Japan has produced and he has played well on the big stage in big games. I think he will be great for our organization and will do very, very well.
“But, honestly, I don’t feel that [the Yankees would have spent an unlimited amount] for any player, as we showed earlier this offseason (with second baseman Robinson Cano, who signed with Seattle). That is not good for the family, our partners or the organization. There was a limit of what we were willing to do, but, yes, I felt it was important to get him.”
The right-hander was highly coveted, after posting a 24-0 record with a 1.27 ERA last season for the Rakuten Golden Eagles in the Japanese league.
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