After news of Masahiro Tanaka putting on the pin-stripes, the Dodgers now move on to not the back-up plan, but the next man up
Well, congratulations to the New York Yankees on winning the Masahiro Tanaka sweepstakes, as reported earlier this morning – Tanaka and the Yankees agreed on a 7-year, $155 million deal.
The Los Angeles Dodgers were on the radar to acquire Tanaka, but it was going to basically come down to preference of residence for the 25-year-old Japanese superstar. Clearly Tanaka prefers polar vortexes as opposed to the beautiful sunny sky’s of Southern California. Or maybe he just simply isn’t one to listen to his wife? I mean, Mrs. Tanaka was clear about where she wanted to live but that’s for a Dr. Phil episode.
Anyway back to the point, now that Tanaka is off the market, what does this mean for the Dodgers moving forward? Well, some can make the assumption that Clayton Kershaw took less money (7-yr., $215MM) to clear room for Tanaka, and some can assume that the Dodgers signed Kershaw to well below that rumored $300MM deal because not only did they have Tanaka on their radar but they’ve also been game-planning for another superstar pitcher, i.e Matt Garza, David Price or Max Scherzer via trade or 2015 free agency.
For any successful franchise, you have to take gambles, but you also have to have depth, not only on the field but a depth of options and scenarios. In other words – have four phone calls going at once. Now that Tanaka is in New York the Dodgers clearly have plenty of money to acquire a top market pitcher, still resign Hanley Ramirez, and possibly stick with their loaded outfield for at least another season. Scherzer of the Detroit Tigers just signed a 1-year deal with $15.5 million to remain in Detroit for the 2014 season. the Tampa Bay Rays also signed their ace, Price, to a 1-year, $14MM deal and he too will remain in Tampa for the upcoming year. Both contracts leave the future of the players and franchises in doubt.
With this said, BIG MONEY contracts are soon to be coming their way after this season. If the Dodgers were willing to outbid the New York Yankees for Tanaka then clearly there is plenty of money to dole out to an already MLB top pitcher. Let’s not forget that Garza is sitting on the market with no ties to any team at the moment.
Pitching is what baseball is built on, you can have all the big bats in the world, hell you can average 10 runs a game, but if you’ve got below average pitching on the mound night-in-and-night-out then there will be a lot of 12-10 losses. Adam Dunn is a prime example of a big bat that gets left behind. The man puts up staggering numbers year-in-and-year-out but because of the average teams he has played on, his numbers mean nothing.
Miguel Cabrera is the best player in the league, but look who takes the mound three nights out of the week: Justin Verlander, Scherzer, and Doug Fister. If Cabrera was dealing with journeymen pitchers or played on the Houston Astros (no disrespect to the Astros) his numbers wouldn’t mean anything and he may not be the 2x reining AL MVP. The point is, the Dodgers aren’t going to spend money in any other department that on the mound with the exception of position players currently on the roster.
Los Angeles is a prime destination, as many players have said, “Los Angeles is a destination not a stop.” So no need to worry Dodger fans, you may have lost the battle for Tanaka, but the war has just begun. The Yankees have a lot of work to do and have the A-Rod circus still dancing around the Bronx, the Dodgers are proven. The Dodgers can win without signing another pitcher, but with $150MM laying around, left for dead, and up for grabs, it’s only a matter of time till either Garza, Price, Scherzer, or another superstar pitcher takes the mound in Dodger blue.
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