Ever since Japanese pitch Masahiro Tanaka was made available, teams have been lining up to try and win the right-hander over. Almost every team interested in a starting pitcher is considering putting a bid in for the potential MLB star. While a few teams appear to only be interested in challenging the market, a few teams have emerged as serious suitors.
CSN Chicago's Luke Stuckmeyer reports that both the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox have scheduled meetings to meet with Tanaka this week. The pitcher is starting negotiations with several teams this week. Anyone willing to take on the right-hander will have to pay a marquee salary plus the $20 million posting fee mandated by his former team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles.
The Cubs and White Sox are dark horses to land Tanaka. Both clubs are trying to rebuild. At 25, he would be a solid fit for a team not yet ready to contend for a title, but want a quality arm. Tanaka also comes considerably cheaper than other Japanese pitchers, Yu Darvish and Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that right now, the frontrunners for Tanaka are the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Mariners are fresh off their signing of Robinson Cano but are said to have one more move up their sleeve before finishing up for the offseason. Tanaka could join Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma. Tanaka and Iwakuma were teammates with the Golden Eagles from 2007 to 2011 and are said to still be good friends. That could sway his decision.
The Diamondbacks have emerged as a favorite after possibly eliminating the New York Yankees. Rosenthal reports the team has considered trading JJ Putz to the Yankees and then will sign Tanaka. The team is hoping that having Suzuki would help sway Tanaka to join the team.
Negotiations for Tanaka have a deadline of January 24. If he follows the trend set by Darvish, he will wait exactly to the deadline to make a decision. Once he has signed with a team, other free agent pitchers can start to find their place before spring training approaches.
Matt Garza, Ubaldo Jimenez and Bronson Arroyo headline the class of free agent pitchers not named Tanaka. Any team that misses out on the Japanese star will start making a heated run at any of these potential starters.