The New York Yankees have reportedly wrapped up the sweepstakes for Japanese pitching sensation Masahiro Tanaka by signing the potential ace to a seven-year contract.
Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal provides the details:
Richard Justice of MLB.com provided insight into the Yankees' pursuit to improve this offseason:
Zachary Rymer of Bleacher Report helped put the deal in context alongside the money the Yankees saved after Alex Rodriguez's suspension by Major League Baseball:
Tanaka is coming off an extraordinary season for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Nippon Professional Baseball. He went 24-0 with a microscopic 1.27 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. He tossed eight complete games, including two shutouts, while striking out nearly eight batters per nine innings.
Even in an era where the value of a win from a pitching perspective is on the decline due to the rising popularity of advanced statistics, coming out on top in 24 of 28 appearances without picking up a single loss is impressive, regardless of the league.
To put the deal into further perspective, ESPN's Jayson Stark provided historical context surrounding Tanaka's reported contract:
Tanaka started pitching in Japan's top league when he was 18. Now 25, he holds a career 2.30 ERA through 175 career games, three of which came in relief.
He completed 53 of his 172 regular-season starts (31 percent), which is unheard of in MLB. The importance of pitch counts and situational pitchers has been on the rise in recent years, leading to fewer starters going the distance. The Cardinals' Adam Wainwright led the league with five complete games in 2013.
On Dec. 17, Tanaka expressed his desire to play baseball in the majors, courtesy of the Associated Press via ESPN.com: "I informed my team that I would like them to allow me to test my abilities in Major League Baseball next season."
There was a concern that Tanaka might not get posted, but as Ben Badler of Baseball America pointed out in December, the Golden Eagles ultimately decided to post him:
Now that Tanaka reportedly has a home in Major League Baseball, the biggest question will be how his style of pitching translates to America. It's always a mystery how a player will respond to the new challenge, but Tanaka's peripheral numbers seem to bode well for his chances.
When you compare his stats to those of Yu Darvish and Hyun-Jin Ryu, two pitchers who had successful arrivals to the majors after pitching elsewhere, he measures up favorably.
Tanaka's career strikeout rate is slightly lower than Darvish's and Ryu's from when they pitched overseas, but only by a fraction. He more than makes up for it with his strikeout-to-walk ratio, which is 4.5 compared to 3.75 for Darvish and 3.35 for Ryu.
Being able to consistently attack the zone while maintaining a high strikeout rate is a positive sign for his future. He hasn't averaged more than two walks per nine innings since 2008.
Given Tanaka's abilities, it is no wonder there was an intense bidding war for his services, as documented by Phil Rogers of MLB.com:
So the numbers suggest he'll make a relatively smooth transition. Of course, there are always intangible factors that make the jump a little more difficult than numbers on paper would suggest, which is the unknown when offering a player like Tanaka a big deal.
That said, his recent success suggests he should prove worth the risk starting next season.
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