How to get Tanaka, wouldja?...

[Dman]

I have read numerous scouting reports that say Tanaka is not as talented as Darvish regardless of what his stats are or a couple of unnamed scouts trying to hype him up.

 

Tanaka is a really good pitcher but in no way is he worth 21-29M/yr before he has even thrown an MLB pitch.

 

I reread several articles and most say they do not think he is better than Darvish so I stand corrected on that point. The Stats in Japan, however, paint Tanaka as having performed better than Darvish but most scouts feel his fastball is not MLB quality and they paint Tanaka as number 2 or 3 pitcher. So far no article I have found paints him as a number 1.

 

Truth be told no one really knows if he will succeed or not so that makes him a much greater risk. The big boys can and usually do take those risks with varying degree's of success. Risk is likely too great for Twins to take. I just want a guy who can come in and be an ace sooo bad seemed like Tanaka might be the one.

[kab21]

I reread several articles and most say they do not think he is better than Darvish so I stand corrected on that point. The Stats in Japan, however, paint Tanaka as having performed better than Darvish but most scouts feel his fastball is not MLB quality and they paint Tanaka as number 2 or 3 pitcher. So far no article I have found paints him as a number 1.

 

Truth be told no one really knows if he will succeed or not so that makes him a much greater risk. The big boys can and usually do take those risks with varying degree's of success. Risk is likely too great for Twins to take. I just want a guy who can come in and be an ace sooo bad seemed like Tanaka might be the one.

 

I'm willing to take risks and I would love to sign him but locking up a pitcher that has never thrown a MLB pitch for 150-200M is silly regardless of the team. Especially when there are some questions in the scouting reports.

[raindog]

I know it doesn't mean much, but I asked Doogie on Twitter if the Twins could shock the world and go after Tanaka since they seem to like him. He said:

 

"I think it's more than like. It's a near love-fest. Just such a tough posting fee battle to win."

 

Anybody think they'll make a real attempt to sign him? I'd say it's highly unlikely, but young, potential aces don't come around very often.

[mk]

It's hard to get a handle on how to grade the Japanese players. For pitchers, there are a couple places to start. One, what's his fastball velocity? I'm sure there are radar guns in Japan, but you'll have to convert it from metric. Next, has Tanaka ever faced Tsuyoshi Nishioka? If he has bad results...it's a pass. If he has good results, he could be an average MLB pitcher.

[Jdosen]

Per Twitter, $20M is the max posting fee, and ties go to the team with the lowest winning percentage. I wonder if this means the Twins could be in on Tanaka. They certainly have a golden opportunity. The only 3 teams that could tie with us and win this offseason are Houston, Miami, and the White Sox, with the Cubs being tied with us for the 4th worst record in the league.

 

Maybe I'm just dreaming, but I'd love to make a run at Tanaka here, as the plan is to not have a record this bad again for a long time.

[twinscowboysbulls]

This is their chance. The deck is definitely stacked in their favor. I was 100% against this guy, but now that we have this opportunity, I'd throw down the 20 million and then rock and roll with negotiating.

 

His potential is good and he is young. What say you?

[raindog]

Wow, that's a major change. Only problem is that other teams like the Astros/Cubs will definitely bid 20 million. So now the Twins have almost no shot.

[ScottyB]

As has been stated - Tanaka is not Darvish. Remember the hype with Dice-K, that's more of a comparable. Would you pay Darvish prices for Dice-K? I sure wouldn't. Go for Garza instead.

[MileHighTwinsFan]

The posting fee limit is not finalized. While it looks like 20M is the number, it is not clear how a team will be selected with multiple teams willing to post the max. It is possible that the player will get to choose the team.

[Thrylos]

The posting fee limit is not finalized. While it looks like 20M is the number, it is not clear how a team will be selected with multiple teams willing to post the max. It is possible that the player will get to choose the team.

 

 

Indeed.

 

Say 3 teams posted the same money. They get to talk to the player in reverse record order. If he does not make a deal with the 2 worse teams, he may make a deal with the third. Think about it the same way as the team a free agent has been playing for gets a week to re-sign him before he hits the market. All about first dibs. Not necessary to sign with them.

[twinscowboysbulls]

It appears the deal is set, worst winning percentage is the determining factor if multiple teams hit the 20 million limit.

[Dainir]

I have also seen reports where the players chooses which team(s) he will negotiate with (1).

 

If that is the case, and all teams that negotiate with the player must pay the posting, it does make the 20MM make more sense. If 8 teams bid the maximum and all negotiate with the player, the NPB team gets $160MM, over a $100MM more than what either team got Darvish or Dice-k.

 

Anyways, I really hope the Twins get on the bidding and negotiations along with locking in a long term contract.

 

 

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/24315418/report-mlbs-latest-posting-system-proposal-calls-for-bidding-limit

[johnnydakota]

To me it sounds like the Draft order , the team with the worst record gets 1st dibs if more then 1 team bids the max. While I think he could slip by Miami and Huston , I dont see the Cubs or the Sox letting him pass. If he does land at our feet then for 20 million and something close to 75 million/5 we could add him,but I think our chances of him dropping to us is 0.001%

[johnnydakota]

To me it sounds like the Draft order , the team with the worst record gets 1st dibs if more then 1 team bids the max. While I think he could slip by Miami and Huston , I dont see the Cubs or the Sox letting him pass. If he does land at our feet then for 20 million and something close to 75 million/5 we could add him,but I think our chances of him dropping to us is 0.001%

Wow was I wrong , looks like the rich get richer

[Marta Shearing]

Its all pretty ridiculous to me. $20 million just to negotiate? And you're out that money if you dont sign him? No thanks.

[cmb0252]

Its all pretty ridiculous to me. $20 million just to negotiate? And you're out that money if you dont sign him? No thanks.

 

You get the money back if you don't sign him.