A handful of teams are still fighting it out for the services of Japanese right handed pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. The deadline to sign Tanaka is only seven days away, so a winner will more than likely emerge within the next two-three days. At least I hope so.
Tanaka has been the topic of discussion over the last couple of weeks and was thought to be targeted by the Seattle Mariners. Just in case you forgot, the Mariners were able to sign one of the biggest free agents over the last couple of years in Robinson Cano.
They were able to lock Cano up for a very long time and flashed enough money in his face to make it official. They added a couple of other pieces and still have some room to make a couple more. But how would they go after Masahiro Tanaka if they were reaching their payroll limit?
According to Ken Rosenthal on Twitter, it appears that the Seattle Mariners are no longer in play for Masahiro Tanaka. But the team could still go after free agent outfielder Nelson Cruz.
Sources: #Mariners in same place, needing ownership approval to keep spending. Do not appear in play for Tanaka. N. Cruz still of interest.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 17, 2014
Tanaka is expected to pickup anywhere between $100-$135 million from whoever he signs with. I highly doubt that Nelson Cruz will be that expensive.