The clock is set on Masahiro Tanaka.
With the Japanese right-hander free to seek a major league job, a 30-day window has been established for clubs to sign him. The opening bell will be rung on Thursday when Tanaka and his new agent, Casey Close, can begin discussions with interested teams that first submit a posting fee capped at $20 million. The righty has until 5 p.m. on Jan. 24 to strike a deal with a US club.
The Yankees might appear as the obvious favorite to sign Tanaka, but the Dodgers, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Angels and Red Sox all have been mentioned as teams with interest and enough payroll flexibility to make a charge.
The Yankees are expected to have an answer on Alex Rodriguez’s situation by Jan. 24, too.
Not falling into that category are the Mets, who seem content with their stable of young pitchers and not in a hurry to offer Tanaka a long-term deal that could surpass $100 million.
Last week, general manager Sandy Alderson indicated the Mets were unlikely to pursue Tanaka, and that thinking hasn’t changed since Tuesday, when the president of the Rakuten Golden Eagles announced his intention to post Tanaka, according to an industry source.
The Mets made their pitching splash of the offseason earlier this month, when they signed Bartolo Colon to a two-year contract worth $20 million. With highly-regarded Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero on the way, Zack Wheeler already in the rotation and Matt Harvey expected to rejoin the club next year after rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, there is no sense of urgency for the Mets to sign Tanaka.
But the Yankees are a different case, needing a potential high-end starter to fill the rotation vacancy created by Andy Pettitte’s retirement. As is stands, the Yankees have CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Ivan Nova penciled in for rotation spots next season.
Under the new rules, bidders on Tanaka must submit a posting fee capped at $20 million to Tanaka’s club, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. That money allows clubs to negotiate with Tanaka, with only the winning bidder actually required to pay the fee.
An industry source confirmed Tanaka has selected Close to represent him. The Yankees certainly have familiarity with Close, who is Derek Jeter’s agent. Close’s other significant clients include Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Ryan Howard, who received a five-year contract extension worth $125 million from the Phillies in 2010.
The 25-year-old Tanaka, who went 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA last season, will likely set the market for remaining free-agent pitchers such as Matt Garza and Ervin Santana.
If the Yankees sign Tanaka, they would almost certainly surpass $189 million in payroll for 2014, pushing them beyond the luxury-tax threshold. The Yankees have already signed Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran, Matt Thornton, Brian Roberts and Kuroda to deals this offseason totaling $308 million.