The New York Yankees showed up as the team that would not be outbid, as the Yanks have signed Masahiro Tanaka on Wednesday to a seven year deal worth $155 million, beating out the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers for his services at the deadline according to Fox Sports and now the Yankees have made a huge splash and will be contenders in 2014.
With three days left to go, the rumors for Masahiro Tanaka are starting to build and it appears that the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers are the three teams that are the favorites to sign him and each has the money to make a top bid with the deadline coming on Friday.
The Dodgers were once thought to be the overall favorite among the dozen or so teams making bids, as they reportedly were not "going to be outbid," but now that same report has come out about both the Yankees and the Cubs. According to ESPN.com, the Yankees are going into their bids with the idea that they want Tanaka and will overpay for him, while the Sporting News is reporting that the Cubs are all-in on the deal as well and that their contract is over $100 million.
The bids are blind between the teams and apart from the clubs looking to sign him, players like Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez, Matt Garza and Bronson Arroyo are all waiting patiently so they can finally sign with teams as well. The Yankees have spent a boatload of money this offseason, but with Alex Rodriguez getting suspended for the season in 2014, they have some more money to spend and that could be for Tanaka. The team has a solid rotation with CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda, but they sure could use a live arm like Tanaka heading into next season after missing the playoffs in 2013.
The Yankees shelled out money on Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran, Kuroda and Brian McCann and now they could be in line to spend even more with Tanaka. The Cubs were terrible last season but appear willing to spend on Tanaka and the Dodgers are just tossing money everywhere with Clayton Kershaw signing his huge deal as well. The reports say all three teams are not willing to get "outbid" for Tanaka and that means he may end up with more money than the media predicted. All three are considered realistic options to sign him.