Masahiro Tanaka Rumors: Sunday
By Edward Creech [January 19 at 6:05pm CST]
Masahiro Tanaka will reportedly command a contract in the neighborhood of $120MM over six years (plus the expected $20MM posting fee) and is said to have received such an offer from the Diamondbacks. Here's the latest with five days remaining before Tanaka's posting period expires Friday at 4pm CT:
The Cubs' convention this weekend was rather quiet, but that might have been different if Tanaka's deadline had been a week earlier, Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago writes. One source told Rogers that the Cubs would be willing to sign Tanaka for up to six to eight years at $25MM per year, while another told him the Cubs would be willing to go with that time frame, but at a lower price.
Tanaka's decision should come Tuesday or Wednesday to allow time for further medical exams to take place prior to the Friday deadline, an AL scout tells David Kaplan of CSNChicago.com (via Twitter).
Kaplan tweets the same scout tells him the Cubs' current state is the biggest drawback in their landing Tanaka. Yesterday, we learned the Cubs made a formal offer to Tanaka, but are considered a long shot to win the bidding.
The White Sox, who also have reportedly have made a formal offer to Tanaka, are in the same boat as the Cubs, tweets Kaplan.
The Mariners may have been priced out of contention for Tanaka or the 25-year-old's interest in Seattle wasn’t as high as some thought, reports the Seattle Times' Geoff Baker.
