The Yankees are plain reckless. To give a pitcher from Japan who's never pitched in the majors a 7 year 155 mil contract is outrageous..

This is why Yankees fans should root for the Red Sox to win more.

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To give a pitcher from Japan who's never pitched in the majors a 7 year 155 mil contract is outrageous..

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allegedly the cubs outbid the yankees, but he didn't want to go there, so what does that make the cubs? You have to pay market rate for the best pitcher to ever come out of japan, statistically. it's a **** ton of money, obviously

Ask the BoSox how that whole Daisuke thing worked out. He was supposed to be the next big thing and had all the hype. Can't remember how much it cost them but I remember at the time it wasn't cheap.

He's not the best pitcher to ever come out of Japan, though...his stats don't matter. He's universally evaluated as at least one tier below Yu.

As for the Cubs, they had to be high bid to even get him to consider it. To Tanaka's credit, he values winning on some level.

What this says about the Cubs is they're desperate for some juice and Tanaka doesn't think they're a winner.

Then again, what this says about the Yankees is they're also desperate...on several levels.

[This message has been edited by corleoneAg99 (edited 1/22/2014 12:54p).]

What was the Cubs offer? $160 mill for 8 years is the rumor I'd read. Sort of outbidding, but not really when it adds an extra year for almost the same total value.

Lolz 175mil outlay for a guy Parks says is a #3

Another terrible contract.

Great point being made out on Twitter...when you factor in the luxury tax hit, Tanaka's AAV is the highest in MLB history.

So Yankees.

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He's not the best pitcher to ever come out of Japan, though...his stats don't matter. He's universally evaluated as at least one tier below Yu.

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his ERA+ is higher than Yus was. how would his stats not matter? How else would you evaluate a pitcher? personality?

[This message has been edited by Token (edited 1/22/2014 1:56p).]

who knows how he'll translate to the MLB

http://www.baseballanalytics.org/baseball-analytics-blog/2013/12/30/masahiro-tanaka-statistically-speaking.html

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What this says about the Cubs is they're desperate

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What this says is about the Cubs is that they could potentially have a starting rotation of Brooks Raley and Barret Loux this year!

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How else would you evaluate a pitcher? personality?

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You're typically better than this, especially when the Yankees aren't involved.

If you can produce a reputable source who has Tanaka as the best pitcher ever out of Japan, i'd be happy to entertain it.

Until then, I'll rely on what most people do...professionals who use scouting, stats, and educataed guesswork to determine a guys track. And in this case, it's a track that has Tanaka looking more like a 2 or a 3 and certainly not on Yu's level coming out of Japan.

He could very well be the best pitcher in the league, but that's not what the most common projections say right now. And, lets be honest Token...the Yankees didn't pay him that much because they think he's a 1 or because they think he's the best pitcher ever to come out of Japan.

They paid him that much because their farm system is mediocre at best, the Sox just won the WS, and he's the projected best pitcher on the market for the biggest of big market teams who needs to get back into WS contention and has a rotation in dire need of some help.

And i'm sure he has a great personality.

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Ask the BoSox how that whole Daisuke thing worked out. He was supposed to be the next big thing and had all the hype. Can't remember how much it cost them but I remember at the time it wasn't cheap.

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Sox got Dice-k as a business move. The Red Sox own NESN. A tv station in Japan got the broadcast tv rights for near 100 million. The Sox basically got Dice K for free. Course the tv contract has been renewed and they are still printing cash for that.

I haven't really followed all of this, so I just don't know. Is Tanaka on the hefty side, or not particularly handsome? Why are we discussing his personality?

And referencing rumors of the losing teams having higher bids is pretty standard spin.

After-all, Rangers supposedly outbid the next highest team by trillions and trillions of dollars for Alex Rodriguez. No really, the next highest team said so.

It's going to come out in a couple of years that ARod was a double agent sent by Tom Hicks to wreck the Yankees from within.

This is just like recruiting: everyone was all in on Tanaka, offering bids of $100M+ hoping to land him. Now he signs with the Yankees, and suddenly the guy is labeled as "maybe a #3". The butthurt is strong.

And I hate the Yankees, for the record. I just find it funny that everyone is piling on Token simply because NYY won the bid

Tanaka projecting as a middle-of-the-rotation guy is something that was said many places from Day 1.

He may come over and absolutely dominate, but the lack of fastball is why he isn't projected as a top of the rotation guy.

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This is just like recruiting: everyone was all in on Tanaka, offering bids of $100M+ hoping to land him. Now he signs with the Yankees, and suddenly the guy is labeled as "maybe a #3". The butthurt is strong.

And I hate the Yankees, for the record. I just find it funny that everyone is piling on Token simply because NYY won the bid

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preach. And you don't need a big fastball to be a 1 or 2 in the rotation. I have no idea how he will do, but we'll see. That being said, I really wish the Yankees had gone all in on Yu, but paying 51M up front would've given me pause, too.

Token wasn't getting piled on....simply disagreed with.

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They paid him that much because their farm system is mediocre at best, the Sox just won the WS, and he's the projected best pitcher on the market for the biggest of big market teams who needs to get back into WS contention and has a rotation in dire need of some help.

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Frank Isola said pretty much this exact same thing on Around the Horn.

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And you don't need a big fastball to be a 1 or 2 in the rotation. I have no idea how he will do, but we'll see.

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No doubt. And none of us really know how he will do.

But as far as projections go, it's a lot easier to project what a guy with a ++ fastball will do coming from Japan than a guy who relies on his splitter.

In comparison... The Rangers got a way better deal... 50 million to Japanese team that doesnt count towards payroll then another 50 to player vs. What Yankees just doled out!!! Ouch!!!!