Thursday, December 19, 2013

Rakuten Golden Eagles May Not Post Tanaka

Masahiro Tanaka
Several reports out of Japan suggest that the Rakuten Golden Eagles may not post star pitcher Masahiro Tanaka—instead offering to double his current salary to the equivalent of $7.7 million if he stays with the NPB champions. While this pales in comparison to what he could get in the States, it would make him the highest paid pitcher in the history of Nippon Professional Baseball. Despite expressing his desire to play in America, Tanaka also said this, "If the team tells me, 'We're not going to post you. Please stay,' the professional thing to do is give it your all and get back to pitching. I'm ready to do that." Of course, if Tanaka is not available to MLB teams, the most devastated would be The Bronx Embalmers—who basically need three starters. Even if you assume that their "number one" (CC Sabathia) is better than his pathetic 2013, The Evil Ones can really only count on soon-to-be 39-year old Hiroki Kuroda to anchor their staff. Sweet.