The Masahiro Tanaka watch is over, according to Fox Sports baseball writer and MLB Network analyst Ken Rosenthal. He tweeted out a short time ago, "BREAKING: Tanaka to #Yankees, seven years, $155M, opt-out after fourth year."
BREAKING: Tanaka to #Yankees, seven years, $155M, opt-out after fourth year.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 22, 2014
The announcement by Rosenthal ends a lengthy courtship of Tanaka by a multitude of teams, that was narrowed down to five earlier this week. As the days wore on, several dropped by the wayside and left the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs as the main suitors, with many reports stating the Yankees would "refuse to be outbid."
The Dodgers clearly had the money to match the Yankees financial might, but were in far less need of an expensive and risky starting pitcher with Clayton Kershaw, the reigning two-time NL Cy Young winner in tow and just inked to a seven-year, $215 million deal. The Dodgers also have Zack Greinke and Hyun-jin Ryu in the rotation, giving them one of baseball's best even without the Rakuten Golden Eagles' former ace.
The Cubs represented a more interesting choice. They couldn't offer Tanaka the winning pedigree of the Yanks or Dodgers, but tried selling him on becoming part of a young core with a promising future for years to come. The Yankees are a decidedly older team with few players under 30, and minor league studs a few years away.
Still, as Rosenthal showed, the Yankees' money and tradition won out. Kershaw, Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez and CC Sabathia are the only pitchers in MLB history to command such a hefty contract. Last year in Japan he was 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA and 183 strikeouts.
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