If Tanaka is set on playing on the West Coast in general, and with the Dodgers in particular, and he's willing to make his decision on factors other than total financial package, the Dodgers will be involved.If he's looking to be the star of stars on his new team and is in search of a bidding war to rocket his payday to the max, baseball sources indicate the Dodgers will more likely bow out, unless their billionaire owners rule otherwise. Even if Tanaka is an incremental upgrade in the middle of the rotation, his signing would re-engage the Dodgers with the Japanese market.Tanaka's status will be resolved by a Jan. 24 deadline. http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article/la/kershaw-tanaka-hanley __
i'll be shocked if they bow out of signing a golden goose like Tanaka. at the end of the day, signing Tanaka is just good business and thus far they've shown that they know what good business looks like. i'm just gonna go ahead and assume that Tanaka is already a Dodger and that Close/Dodgers were just more focused on Kershaw. Yankees are old and played out...a circus with the whole ARod b.s. Tanaka doesn't need to be around all that and Close shouldn't want that for him...not when he can grow with a young LAD core of Kershaw/Ryu/Puig/Guerrero.
Walter already said in public it's a priority and besides, worst case, it only puts a little more pressure on them to trade one of the OF'ers, which they don't really have to do if they choose not to. They've got an extra 8 figures of house $$$ to play with, don't forget.
^I had heard the same thing that it could result in a of'er being traded for the reason of possibly pairing down a little payroll.
Didn't mean for that to be directed to you. And the stats don't bear out your 1st half/2nd half assumption. Career 1st half = 3.79 Career 2nd half = 3.48 http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=billich01&year=Career&t=p While I don't question that he has been inconsistent from start to start throughout his career, it is not a question of finishing poorly.
well they got a Tanaka question in at the presser for Kershaw ( which CK did not attend). Nud said they're still negotiating, has talked with Close everyday this week ( except for yesterday)
dude put me on a stat yesterday that solidfied Crawford over Ethier for me...CC had a .304avg/.353obp in the leadoff spot last season. we can use that, especially since we don't have any other true leadoff guys. but believe it or not, CC's numbers were even better than that with 2 outs and RISP...valuable numbers in the leadoff spot after pitcher/8-hole guy. i really didn't know CC was so much worse in the 2-hole...jesus. never put him there again. anyway, CC looks like the man for LF, especially with his range and his glove. if CC can stay moderately healthy ( get some days off to help) and bring some of that early season/playoff pop that he had in his bat, it's a no brainer. i know the Ethier fans won't like that, but hey...CC is just bringing more of what we need. it works out nicely tho because CC is more expensive and other teams may prefer the cheaper Ethier. if they're worried about depth...we still have SVS and Joc can get a taste in September ( or earlier if anybody gets seriously hurt and he can fill in everyday) every championship team needs that ^ basically the ability to make somethin outta nothin
and if you look at Wilson's reaction in the dugout when CC gets there...the slap to CC's ass was like a slap to the chest from Ric Flair. WOOOO LOL that's the kinda stuff that gets everybody fired up. the hustle. we have a lot of muscle in our lineup...a healthy CC brings some hustle.
Okay mlb.com had an update a few hours after that waste of a presser and in it they say that the 2 Chicago teams are favorites now???? Is Tanaka-san kidding? 1st of all if he goes AL it will be that much harder to pitch than in the NL and secondly if he goes to the Cubs he'll have to pitch in Wrigley and oh yeah for the CUBS. Is Casey Close giving him bad advice or is it just to drive up the price, in any case that is what Heyman is reporting.
I completely agree but you can still bably all you want... ... .. But no fucking way his agent is going to steer him to Chicago... with their loser of all losers rep... yeah Tanaka-san you'll love it there LOL
I think his slut /starlet / girlfriend / bukkake wench will be voting hard for LaLa land of Hollywierd... :titshot:
We are in a pretty good position right now with Tanaka. So far it looks like the following are the players (in order of ability to acquire, need, and resources): New York: We will not see them until we get to the playoffs. I think they will be decent this year but I also see a few injuries to key guys coming. LA: We are not allowed to play ourselves. (However, we can play with ourselves) Anaheim: We play them a couple of times but we will not truly see them until the playoffs. Cubs: Same as the Anals. I do not think they will compete for another two years. He will languish until they are able to do so. I was also not aware that Chicago was known as a Japanese town. AZ: I think that they are dead last. Yes, they may have Choo money but I am not sure they have anything to offer Tanaka that makes AZ an ideal location.
Oh yeah, here is the reason for the above post: Masahiro Tanaka Rumors: Saturday By Charlie Wilmoth [January 18 at 8:06am CST] Here's the latest on the bidding for Masahiro Tanaka. The Cubs have made a "real offer" to Tanaka, tweets 670TheScore.com's Bruce Levine, who also notes that one key factor for Tanaka and his wife will be the presence of a Japanese community in his new city. On Thursday, we heard that the Cubs were "pushing hard" for Tanaka, and Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reported on the "sales pitch" the Cubs made to Tanaka last week.
