He fits because he's 25 years old and they won't lose a draft pick or trade pieces to acquire him. I hope whoever signs him watched a lot of tape. Let the craziness begin.

how long does this process take?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

They do it because some guy on the corner Addison & Sheffield has 10 cases of Horry Kow shirts leftover, and now he will be able to move them.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

The more I think about it the less I think a team should commit a long term deal to Tanaka. Not only are his mechanics questionable but Tanaka also pitches off a trick pitch, a splitter. The splitter puts a lot of stress on the arm and shoulder and Tanaka has already had an extremely excessive workload. Though Tanaka is only 25 years old he's thrown over 1,300 innings and many of those outings with alarmingly high pitch counts (160+ pitches in one of his last Japanese starts).

Signing any pitcher to a long term contract (many think he will get at least 6 years) carries risk but Tanaka's risk is much higher. Tanaka will likely be a very effective pitcher and help a team during the first couple years of the contract but I'm not sure that effectiveness will be sustainable for a long period of time. A team viewing Tanaka as a long-term starting rotation piece could be stuck looking for ways to get out from under a contract for an extremely expensive middle reliever.

The Tanaka circus is actually dumber than I thought. Baseball has stopped for the last month waiting for this dickhead to sign. Stop the stupidity and pick a fucking team.

YES Network ‏@YESNetwork 12m
Report: Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (@t_masahiro18) now deciding between the @Yankees & @Cubs: http://yesnet.me/1jl008V

Just like Joe Girardi...if money is equal or close, what person in Tanaka's situation would ever choose the Cubs over the Yankees?

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I don't think the money will be equal or close. The Cubs will have to significantly outbid the other teams to sign him.

I think he is worth more to the Cubs than anyone else. Busloads of people will come from the cornfields to see the alien life form.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

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An insane maniac, and/or someone who believes that the Emperor Theo and his magic baseball computer are wearing magnificent clothes.

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Or someone who just cant stand to work with Satan Elves

This shows how fucked up the old posting system was when the better pitcher in Yu Darvish signed for only 6 yrs/$56M while Tanaka gets 7 yrs/$155M.

Im glad the Cub didn't get him. Yankees can afford to make a 155 million mistake if he turns out to be Hideki Irabu, the Cubs can't. Thats a lot of dough to commit to someone who hasn't thrown one pitch in the majors.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

You have stood relatively silent on the Theo the Cub issue. I'd like to hear your perspective as a little of an outsider than the rest of us.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Yankee fan thoughts on Theo might be a little skewed


But I agree, Id love to hear it

Phil Rogers ‏@philgrogers
@pgammo has a good track record on @Cubs. On Tanaka, he says they lacked "the cash to finish it, and knew they were not seriously in it.''

I believe that my thoughts on Theo Epstein are identical to those expressed by some on this very message board, particularly (I believe) Joe Orr Rod Road. I believe that he is emerging as a brilliant and world class snake oil salesman. Rather than magic cure-all elixirs in the old west, however, his stock-in-trade is optimism, which he peddles exceptionally well.

Buyer beware - there is no money back guarantee! Dr. Theo's mystical elixir will not cure arthritis, nor will it cure World Series droughts.

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Masahiro Tanaka has flown back to New York in order to undergo an MRI on his pitching arm.

Two bad starts and an MRI. Ouch. Babe.

you ain't kidding!

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Abreu is a lock for ROY now!

Good call by Keyser , to whippy

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https://www.backroadspubandgrill.com

Great call.

Would you and Keyser agree that pitchers that are too "whippy" are basically destined for major arm trouble??

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Too whippy, too splitty, too over-worky. Now this may end up being nothing serious but it definitely doesn't make them feel good about their 7yr/$175M investment.

John Danks is going to be changing his pinstripes by August

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Tanaka has been diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament.

Tommy John is needed. Cubs dodged a bullet.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Theo is a genius!

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Sometimes when you lose you really win.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!