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Post by polarbear91 on Aug 27, 2013 11:19:59 GMT -5
Badler also followed up with this tweet: @benbadler: First RT @dmyrickg87 Where would you have taken Tanaka if he was in the 2013 mlb draft? Is he saying first pick, or first round?
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Post by Guidas on Aug 27, 2013 13:25:44 GMT -5
Badler also followed up with this tweet: @benbadler: First RT @dmyrickg87 Where would you have taken Tanaka if he was in the 2013 mlb draft? Is he saying first pick, or first round? Seemed like first overall based on the follow-up tweets.
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Post by Legion of Bloom on Aug 27, 2013 13:26:41 GMT -5
First pick.
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Post by jmei on Aug 28, 2013 22:07:25 GMT -5
Here's a nice highlight video of Tanaka. The splitter and two-seamer certainly look nasty.
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jimoh
Veteran
Posts: 3,972
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Post by jimoh on Aug 29, 2013 10:20:23 GMT -5
I've got one question first and foremost. How big are his hands? Seriously... DiceK struggled to get the same movement on his pitches here as he did in Japan because his hands are small. He was fine in Japan because the ball is smaller. Yu has big hands and long fingers so he hasn't had the same issue. It's not the end all and be all, but it's something I'd be very concerned about if I were a GM looking at a Japanese pitcher. ... Smaller ball? is this right, or formerly right but not now? I read that Japan changed not long ago to the same size ball, so that Dice-K had to make a transition when he came here, but current Japanese hurlers have already made the transition. This would be an especially serious concern if he throws a split. But maybe it is no concern at all anymore?
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Post by rjp313jr on Aug 29, 2013 12:34:42 GMT -5
i did a quick Google search and couldn't find any conclusive evidence, other than they did change the ball back in 2011, so you're correct. This article from the NY Times talks about it. It appears they tried to make it more like the US ball so it seems likely they did increase the size. However, it does talk about the ball still being different and talks specifically about it moving a lot more easily, which can obviously be an issue when evaluating. However, my concern over the size of his hands may be minimized or perhaps not. A pitcher with small hands is at a disadvantage with regards to ball movement. So IF his hands are small AND the ball he uses moves more than a ball he'd use here then that could still be an issue. www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/sports/baseball/japans-standardized-baseballs-are-popular-with-pitchers.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
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Post by Guidas on Aug 29, 2013 12:46:06 GMT -5
Apparently the seams on the Japanese ball are still more pronounced, so that help pitchers get movement. Also remember, most of their starters pitch every 6 days instead of every 5. Big difference over a season.
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Post by mgoetze on Aug 29, 2013 15:44:56 GMT -5
Also remember, most of their starters pitch every 6 days instead of every 5. Big difference over a season. What's the difference, and is there any proof for it?
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Aug 31, 2013 13:04:42 GMT -5
Also remember, most of their starters pitch every 6 days instead of every 5. Big difference over a season. What's the difference, and is there any proof for it? Over a 182-day season, you're talking six starts, plus the fact that the arm has less time to recover between starts.
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Post by mgoetze on Aug 31, 2013 16:42:57 GMT -5
What's the difference, and is there any proof for it? Over a 182-day season, you're talking six starts, plus the fact that the arm has less time to recover between starts. OK, sure, it makes a difference regarding injury potential, but I thought guidas was implying that it made a difference in performance or how the performance should be evaluated.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Aug 31, 2013 22:32:44 GMT -5
Over a 182-day season, you're talking six starts, plus the fact that the arm has less time to recover between starts. OK, sure, it makes a difference regarding injury potential, but I thought guidas was implying that it made a difference in performance or how the performance should be evaluated. Well matters in how he'd theoretically perform in that he wouldn't have as much time to recover between starts.
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Post by jmei on Sept 12, 2013 16:58:43 GMT -5
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Post by johnsilver52 on Sept 12, 2013 18:10:17 GMT -5
Think it's already going to be a foregone conclusion where he goes, or down to 2 teams at least:
Money? Yankees desperately need 3 SP with Kuoroda saying he's heading back to Japan (earlier), Petite retiring (again), Highes leaving and all of their "great hope" kids either amounting to nothing (Warren, Nuno) or way off and some having issues.
Mariners if he chooses a "home turf" scenario and forgoes some dollars.
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Post by soxfanatic on Sept 18, 2013 5:55:06 GMT -5
In his game recap of Tanaka's most recent start (he threw a 10-hit, one-run complete game), Baseball America's Ben Badler cites Japanese media outlet Sanspo in reporting that the Yankees, Red Sox and Diamondbacks all had scouts in attendance once again. Via MLBTR (Ben Badler's piece is for subs only) www.baseballamerica.com/international/masahiro-tanaka-game-report-sept-13/
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Post by bluechip on Sept 18, 2013 6:00:21 GMT -5
Think it's already going to be a foregone conclusion where he goes, or down to 2 teams at least: Money? Yankees desperately need 3 SP with Kuoroda saying he's heading back to Japan (earlier), Petite retiring (again), Highes leaving and all of their "great hope" kids either amounting to nothing (Warren, Nuno) or way off and some having issues. Mariners if he chooses a "home turf" scenario and forgoes some dollars. Well, if the current posting rules remain in effect, then he won't have the option of forgoing money to play in Seattle.
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Post by jmei on Sept 18, 2013 9:39:05 GMT -5
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Post by semperfisox on Sept 18, 2013 10:45:02 GMT -5
let's throw in $50 mil to negotiate and $50 mil to sign him. It's worked before!!! joking.
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Post by jmei on Nov 1, 2013 15:56:39 GMT -5
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Post by sammo420 on Nov 1, 2013 16:26:35 GMT -5
My how time flies, is it April fool's day already?
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Post by Guidas on Nov 3, 2013 22:42:00 GMT -5
One thing to keep in mind here, the new rules should allow Tanaka to negotiate with the top 3 bidders, which means Sox only need to be 3rd to get a shot. From there it's convincing him that Boston is the best place for him and, likely, making him the best salary offer. This could actually be an advantage if one of the others are the Yankees who are trying to keep salary down. The key here is a good assessment of this guy is really a solid #2 starter or less (glad that's not my job). Certainly is a strike-thrower with low bb and nice control of the breaking stuff. Comps have been made as a "Young Kuroda." If accurate, that's worth $14M (or more) a year. May not have to go that high, but if you offer more AAV than what Darvish got. you'd have good grounds for a deal as long as one of the other two teams don' t exceed that.
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Post by taftreign on Nov 3, 2013 22:54:41 GMT -5
I believe the idea is the top three bidders will be available for Tanaka to select which team he prefers to sign with. I don't believe the negotiating will take place after the three top bidders are revealed but rather after Tanaka selects the team he wishes to sign with. Therefore he will only be negotiated with one team. Not certain though. Waiting for clarification.
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Post by jmei on Nov 3, 2013 23:56:22 GMT -5
I believe the idea is the top three bidders will be available for Tanaka to select which team he prefers to sign with. I don't believe the negotiating will take place after the three top bidders are revealed but rather after Tanaka selects the team he wishes to sign with. Therefore he will only be negotiated with one team. Not certain though. Waiting for clarification. This is accurate, I believe. Tanaka needs to choose one of the top three posting bid teams before he can start negotiating a contract with him, which makes guidas' strategy above impossible (well, unless they use backchannels to impermissibly negotiate with him before he chooses a team, which might plausibly occur).
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Post by FenwayFanatic on Nov 4, 2013 9:12:35 GMT -5
I don't see how he doesn't end up a Yankee. They need him so bad.
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Post by Gwell55 on Nov 4, 2013 10:34:35 GMT -5
I believe the idea is the top three bidders will be available for Tanaka to select which team he prefers to sign with. I don't believe the negotiating will take place after the three top bidders are revealed but rather after Tanaka selects the team he wishes to sign with. Therefore he will only be negotiated with one team. Not certain though. Waiting for clarification. This is accurate, I believe. Tanaka needs to choose one of the top three posting bid teams before he can start negotiating a contract with him, which makes guidas' strategy above impossible (well, unless they use backchannels to impermissibly negotiate with him before he chooses a team, which might plausibly occur). Will or do you think the teams placing bids will have a scout or someone in touch with him before they open the bids talking to him or his agent about what their plans are and "range" of deals that they feel will be their offer if successful? Seems to me that there is a lot of this going to happen off the record with the way the new posting looks like.
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Post by sammo420 on Nov 4, 2013 11:42:14 GMT -5
I don't see how he doesn't end up a Yankee. They need him so bad. The Yankees can control whether or not they are one of the top three posting teams but they have no control over which team Tanaka will choose and if for example its Seattle, Boston and the Yankees he could choose Boston as having more money to spend or Seattle for the "home away from home" thing somebody else mentioned.
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