Saw this on another site (I'm not an insider) via ESPN Insider... Tanaka Will Be Elite from Day One The New York Yankees needed a frontline starting pitcher, both to address the depth problems in their rotation and to cover the possibility that CC Sabathia's 2013 is a sign that he's no longer a true No. 1 starter. The market this offseason offered only one pitcher who might be able to fill that hole for the Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka, so while interest in him was broad across MLB, it's no surprise that he ended up with a team that had both the need and one of the majors' two largest revenue bases to tap into. Darvish not a good comparison Tanaka isn't Yu Darvish, an unfair comparison based more on their country of origin than their stuff or builds. Tanaka is still a very good pitcher when judged on his own merits, with a fastball in the low 90s that was trending up as 2013 went on, hitting 98 mph in a few outings late in the year. His best pitch is a splitter in the low to mid-80s with good bottom, a 60 on the 20-80 scouting scale, and his mid-80s slider will flash above-average to plus, as he's improved that pitch substantially since I saw him before the WBC in 2009. He'll also show a curveball and cutter, either or both of which he'll likely end up junking when he pitches in New York because they're below-average and he has better weapons. Pitchers from Nippon Professional Baseball tend to have huge hip and torso rotation in their deliveries, but Tanaka has much less of one, still hiding the ball well but generating less torque with his lower half, with a big hook in the back of his delivery. His control is plus and he commands his fastball well to both sides of the plate, although he likes to pitch up with his fastball -- an approach that works in NPB but won't work as well in MLB, where more hitters swing for the fences rather than just for contact. I think he'll be the Yankees' best starter in 2014 and one of the top 20-25 starters in the league. The risk Tanaka was worked hard in Japan, throwing 160 pitches in a playoff start a few months ago and then pitching again the next day, and did miss a month with a sore shoulder in the spring of 2012. That's one reason why the player option after the fourth year in Tanaka's deal (euphemistically called an "opt-out") may work to the Yankees' advantage -- they'll likely know the state of his health better than any club if Tanaka chooses to explore the market after Year 4, and could end up getting his three or four best years without the enormous downside risk of the final years of this contract. The new posting system's limits seem to have helped Tanaka take more money home himself, and the Yankees were probably further emboldened by the success of Darvish since he came over to Texas two years ago. None of the teams that were reportedly in the final bidding needed Tanaka to the degree that the Yankees did for 2014. The Cubs might be the most disappointed, as they have a huge crop of top-tier hitting prospects coming but don't have the arms yet to line up with them. Having already signed Edwin Jackson last winter to a deal that, right now, doesn't look so hot, I would imagine they're not excited about doing a similar deal with Ubaldo Jimenez or Ervin Santana, the two best remaining starters on the free-agent market.
