Official MLB Offseason Rumors/Trades/Signed Players Thread

[Mooshashi]

Damn, Joba is gone. Signing with the Tigers.

Yankees reject Phillips for Gardner trade, but are interested in Gardner for Austin Jackson.

Rockies sign lefty relief pitcher Boone Logan. Yanks got no lefties in their bullpen.

Also kinda late but Twins signed Phil Hughes.

WTF they traded Austin Jackson for Granderson and now they want
him back?

Yankees continue to be an All Star team....with very little pitching. And there's NO ONE to replace Mariano....Joe Nathan would have been a god replacement but they went for a catcher instead...

[-Kev-]

WTF they traded Austin Jackson for Granderson and now they want
him back?

Yankees continue to be an All Star team....with very little pitching. And there's NO ONE to replace Mariano....Joe Nathan would have been a god replacement but they went for a catcher instead...

Just some interest being shown.

I don't like the trade TBH. Jackson is merely 10 points higher than Gardner in batting average, considerably less stolen bases, about the same 2013 in RBI's and HR's, Gardner had 10 triples vs Jackson's 7, and 33 doubles vs Jackson's 30, 24 stole bases vs Jackson's 8, .273 for Gardner, .272 for Jackson. Really not a good trade, not bad, but not good either. JAckson's only pro is that he's 27,and Gardner is 30.

About Phillips, we don't really need him. Although he's coming off that 100RBI 2013, Kelly is decent and Cashman should focus on the bullpen. I think we are good with starting pitching, CC, Nova, Kuroda, Pineda, Phelps, now we need a bullpen cause Robertson is all alone.

[RlCKY]

Surprise, Surprise

Masahiro Tanaka, the 25-year-old Japanese right-hander who was 24-0 for the Rakuten Golden Eagles last season, has agreed to a seven-year, $155 million contract with the New York Yankees, sources said Wednesday morning.

As part of the new rules governing the system that allows Japanese players to sign with a U.S. club, the Yankees will pay an additional $20 million to Rakuten. Tanaka can opt out of the contract after four years.

[Also: Agent Dave Stewart says Matt Kemp won’t be ready for Australia opener ]

For $175 million, then, the Yankees sign the best starting pitcher in a thin free-agent market. Due to his 53-9 record over the past three seasons, an ERA in that time well under two, a clever split-******** fastball and his youth, Tanaka is perhaps the most hyped pitcher to come from Japan since Hideki Irabu (to the Yankees) more than 15 years ago. Many scouts believe he will be somewhat less effective, however, than Yu Darvish, who in the past two seasons with the Texas Rangers is 29-18 and has become the ace of that staff.

Tanaka had drawn heavy interest from across the game. The Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox, along with the Yankees, were especially involved. He had 30 days – until Friday – to sign with a U.S. team, and in that time met with several clubs in Los Angeles.

Known in Japan by the nickname “Ma-kun,” Tanaka is a veteran of Olympic and World Baseball Classic competition. He has twice led Nippon Professional Baseball in wins, ERA and complete games, and in 2011 led the league in strikeouts. Also, he has twice been named the league’s top starting pitcher.

Still, the transition to the U.S. game has been difficult for some well-regarded Japanese pitchers. And while Tanaka seeks to follow in the footsteps of Hideo Nomo, Hiroki Kuroda and Darvish, there is a risk he will not adapt. Daisuke Matsuzaka had one exceptional season for the Boston Red Sox. He cost the Red Sox more than $100 million in posting fees and salary. The Yankees spent more than $46 million on Kei Igawa in 2006. He won two big-league games. Irabu, who signed a $12.8 million contract with the Yankees (after being traded from the San Diego Padres) before the current posting system was developed, never seemed comfortable with the U.S. game and retired with a losing record.

The Yankees are betting Tanaka has the talent and temperament to stand at or near the top of their rotation. While he lacks the power of Darvish, Tanaka does throw a fastball in the mid-90s. He has an uncommonly good split-******** fastball and an effective slider. Tanaka threw significant innings as a young pitcher – 186 1/3 as an 18-year-old and a career-high 226 1/3 at 22 – and often threw more pitches than his U.S. counterparts, though that seems of little concern to most scouts.

The Yankees, while counting their dollars against the luxury tax, were the favorites to land Tanaka, in part because of their financial wherewithal and in part because their starting rotation is so thin.

[Mooshashi]

$22mill/year for a guy who has never pitching in MLB.

That's nearly $1mill PER START.

Damn, that's a lot of sushi.

[Mooshashi]

Makes his wife happy, I'm sure.

[RlCKY]

$22mill/year for a guy who has never pitching in MLB.

That's nearly $1mill PER START.

Damn, that's a lot of sushi.

For a guy who is a projected #2 starter; but a #2 starter on what teams? Also I keep hearing he's more like Matsuzaka and not quite as good as Darvish, but is getting 2.5 times the $ Darvish did.

Yankees have now spent about a half billion dollars on signing free agents this offseason.

[Mooshashi]

For a guy who is a projected #2 starter; but a #2 starter on what teams? Also I keep hearing he's more like Matsuzaka and not quite as good as Darvish, but is getting 2.5 times the $ Darvish did.

Yankees have now spent about a half billion dollars on signing free agents this offseason.

Darvish must be kicking himself....and his team got $50 mill and not only $20 mill.

Damn those TV contracts....I believe players should get all the money they can get but $1 mill/start?

[BERNIE'S CORNER]

Tanaka's a Yank and we need em !!!



Masahiro Tanaka to Yanks for $155M
Updated: January 22, 2014, 1:03 PM ET
By Andrew Marchand | ESPNNewYork.com


Yankees Land Masahiro Tanaka

Buster Olney reacts to the Yankees' snagging prized free-agent pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, who agreed to a seven-year, $155 million deal.

A Great Deal For Tanaka

NEW YORK -- The Yankees spent much of 2013 scouting right-hander Masahiro Tanaka in Japan. After seeing him go 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA, they came away convinced his stuff would translate to the major leagues.

On Wednesday, before Tanaka has thrown a major league pitch, they confirmed their conviction by signing the 25-year-old starter to a seven-year, $155 million contract, his agent, Casey Close, confirmed to ESPNNewYork.com

After missing the playoffs last season, the Yankees needed to find another star. Mission accomplished with the signing of Masahiro Tanaka, writes Ian O'Connor. Story

The Yankees were desperate to find a top-of-the-rotation starter and got their man, writes Wallace Matthews. Blog

Keith Law says Masahiro Tanaka will be an elite pitcher right away, and explains why he made sense for the Yankees. Blog Insider

Masahiro Tanaka's deal with the Yankees doesn't mean much in terms of other free-agent pitchers still looking to find a new home, writes Buster Olney. Story Insider

The contract includes an opt-out clause after the fourth year. The Yankees will pay Tanaka's Japanese team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles, a $20 million posting fee.

The Yankees' offseason plan since the beginning of their organizational meetings in October was to go on a spending spree while also trying to drop payroll beneath the $189 million tax threshold for 2014. The Yankees have spent $491 million, which includes $153 million for Jacoby Ellsbury, $100 million (including his option) for Brian McCann and $45 million for Carlos Beltran.

"We're going to do what we've got to do to win," Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner, who is not as involved in day-to-day operations as his brother, Hal, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

The Yankees are over the $189 million mark, which means they will be taxed at a 50 percent rate in the future. They had hoped to slip under the number to reduce their tax rate to 12.5 percent.

The team badly wanted Tanaka and made it clear to him during a meeting two weeks ago. On Jan. 8, according to sources, the Yankees sent an eight-man group to Los Angeles to meet with Tanaka and Close. President Randy Levine, GM Brian Cashman, assistant GMs Billy Eppler and Jean Afterman, manager Joe Girardi, pitching coach Larry Rothschild, former Japanese manager Trey Hillman (a special assistant to Cashman) and translator George Rose were present.

"They sold him on the Yankees," a source told ESPNNewYork.com. "That it was the right place to play and that big-game players play there."

The Yankees knew they needed Tanaka because of questions surrounding their pitching staff. CC Sabathia will try to regain his ace form. Hiroki Kuroda, who turns 39 before spring training, will attempt to show his struggles in the season's final six weeks were a mirage. No. 3 starter Ivan Nova will need to be consistent for a full season.

The fifth starter spot will be a competition between Michael Pineda, Vidal Nuno and David Phelps.

The Yankees decided to revamp the team after missing the playoffs for just the second time since 1995. Their top targets were Tanaka, their own player in Robinson Cano, McCann and Beltran. They also liked Ellsbury and Shin-Soo Choo. They have now signed Tanaka, McCann and Beltran, and replaced Cano's bat with Ellsbury's. Cano went to the Seattle Mariners for $240 million.

Still, the Yankees are not a complete team. At second base, they have the injury-plagued Brian Roberts and career minor leaguer Dean Anna, while at third they have Kelly Johnson as a possibility. At first with Mark Teixeira and at third with Derek Jeter, they have star players returning from major injuries.

Yankees Rotation With Tanaka
Masahiro Tanaka joins a Yankees staff that will likely feature CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Ivan Nova and David Phelps in the starting rotation for the 2014 season.

Starter 2013 IP 2013 ERA
Masahiro Tanaka 212* 1.27*
CC Sabathia 211 4.78
Hiroki Kuroda 201 1/3 3.31
Ivan Nova 139 1/3 3.10
David Phelps 86 2/3 4.98
* = With Rakuten Golden Eagles

-- ESPN Stats & Information
Tanaka is considered a top-of-the-rotation starter. He was able to command a huge contract because of a new posting system in place this offseason. Under the former rules, one team would win exclusive rights to negotiate with a player -- meaning more money for the Japanese clubs but less for the player.

For example, Yu Darvish agreed to a six-year, $60 million deal with the Rangers after the team won his negotiating rights with a $51.7 million posting bid. He is 29-18 in two seasons with Texas, striking out 498 batters in 401 innings.

Under the new rules, Tanaka became a free agent, but there was a $20 million fee attached to him.

Of the other teams that were courting Tanaka -- the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks -- the Yankees made the largest offer. The total expenditure ($175 million in salary and posting) is the largest ever for a free-agent pitcher.

Tanaka receives the largest contract ever for an international free agent and the fifth-largest deal for a pitcher, trailing only those of Clayton Kershaw ($215 million), Justin Verlander ($180 million), Felix Hernandez ($175 million) and Sabathia ($161 million under his original agreement with New York).

Tanaka was 99-35 with a 2.30 ERA and 1,238 strikeouts in 175 games for Rakuten since 2007. He had 53 complete games, including 18 shutouts.

In his interview with the AP, Hank Steinbrenner bristled at the notion the Yankees were becoming cheap without his father around.

"There has been criticism of myself and my brother the last couple years that, gee, if our dad was still in charge, we'd be spending this and spending that and doing whatever it takes to win," he said, referring to late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

"He didn't have revenue sharing, at least for most of his time," Hank Steinbrenner added. "That's what these people in the sports media don't seem to get. If it wasn't for revenue sharing, we'd have a payroll of $300 million a year if we wanted to. So we're doing this despite having to pay all that revenue sharing."

ESPN's Buster Olney, ESPNNewYork.com's Wallace Matthews and The Associated Press contributed to this report.


Andrew Marchand
ESPNNewYork.com
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Andrew Marchand is a senior writer for ESPNNewYork. He also regularly contributes to SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, ESPNews, ESPN New York 98.7 FM and ESPN Radio. He joined ESPN in 2007 after nine years at the New York Post. Follow Andrew on Twitter »

[RlCKY]

Another 10 year atrocity has been doled out, this time Miguel Cabrera is the benefactor.

While technically not a 10 year deal, he signed an 8 year deal for $248 million. Add that to the $44 million they owe him for 2014 and 2015, the Tigers will be paying Miguel Cabrera to $292 million dollars to play baseball through his age 40 season.

And, as if that's not enough, the extension comes with 2 vesting options for 2024-2025 for $30 million each for his age 41 and 42 seasons (lmao)

All in all the Detroit Tigers have possibly committed as much as $352 million for Cabrera to play baseball until age 42.


I know there's a few Tiger fans here, what do you guys think about the deal? The Tigers have a **** farm system. I think they should have just let his deal run out. If they win with him this year or next, so be it.

Either that or they would try and trade him after the season or 2015 trade deadline.

[Dinamita 03]

Another 10 year atrocity has been doled out, this time Miguel Cabrera is the benefactor.

While technically not a 10 year deal, he signed an 8 year deal for $248 million. Add that to the $44 million they owe him for 2014 and 2015, the Tigers will be paying Miguel Cabrera to $292 million dollars to play baseball through his age 40 season.

And, as if that's not enough, the extension comes with 2 vesting options for 2024-2025 for $30 million each for his age 41 and 42 seasons (lmao)

All in all the Detroit Tigers have possibly committed as much as $352 million for Cabrera to play baseball until age 42.


I know there's a few Tiger fans here, what do you guys think about the deal? The Tigers have a **** farm system. I think they should have just let his deal run out. If they win with him this year or next, so be it.

Either that or they would try and trade him after the season or 2015 trade deadline.

Detroit has the money but like you say this move makes no sense. Their chances of winning the World Series are actually less than last year. They lost Iglesisas their Shortstop and would've been better served acquiring a new one instead of overcommitting for a 30 year old 3rd baseman who can't field. The Angels really skewed the value of 30 year old sluggers with those deals with Pujols and Hamilton.