MLB Rumors: Masahiro Tanaka’s wife prefers to live on West Coast?
By Bryan Rose
As every man knows – a happy wife/girlfriend means a happy life and I’m going to assume free agent pitcher Masahiro Tanaka abides by the same rules.
That might not be good for teams on the East Coast looking to sign the 25-year-old pitcher.
This past weekend, it was said the New York Yankees were looking to be the favorites to acquire the services of the Japanese born-arm but a report out of the New York Times may suggest otherwise.
Tanaka has also been heavily courted by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Anaheim Angels and according to David Waldstein, Tanaka’s wife would prefer to stay on the West Coast:
"Consensus in Japan right now is that Yankees and Dodgers are favorites on Tanaka and word is his wife prefers to be on West Coast."
A flight from LAX to Japan is much easier than one from JFK to LAX to Japan, which likely has a lot to do with her reasoning.
Obviously that doesn’t automatically take the Yankees out of the running and we can’t be sure how much weight her desires will have on Tanaka’s eventual landing spot, but it is something to take note of.
Regardless, it still appears as if the Yankees, Angels and Dogers are the lone teams in the mix to sign the starter.