Masahiro Tanaka reportedly set to join major leagues
Masahiro Tanaka, the Japanese right-hander who was 24-0 and led the
Rakuten Golden Eagles to their first Japan Series championship, is free to come to the U.S. major leagues as a virtual free agent, according to reports out of Japan.Golden Eagles president Yozo Tachibana was quoted by Japanese news outlets Tuesday night saying team owner Hiroshi Mikitani "accepted wish to challenge himself in the major leagues and decided to petition for him to be posted."
if most knew what they were talking about they would know that no team actually has to pay $20m to talk with him,, they sign an agreement saying if he chooses to sign with whichever team,, that team will pay Rakuten the $20m.. the money doesnt get handed over till after he signs.. Tanaka has already said he would love to play for the yankees,, and of the 30 teams about 5 will actually negotiate with him even though all 30 will most likely contact his agent..
Seems to be a lot of confusion on here. Let me set this straight. Teams who want a chance to negotiate with Tanaka will have to be the highest bidders. Since this year its set at 20m, many teams will bid 20m just to get a chance to sign him. Thats where the big money comes into play. If and only if he signs with your team does that team have to then pay the 20m bid. The other clubs get their 20m bid back. Hope this clears it up.
For those saying this team will outbid the other, nonsense! The highest bid that can be placed is 20 mil. The teams that "want" this guy will all bid 20 mil. It's up to him where he wants to go. The 20 mil is just fo
r the rights on him. He can always deny the contract offer and stay in Japan. Albeit he wants to leave, so he will jump on a decent contract. He will want to go to a WS caliber team. wrong, Christopher. the 20 million is just the offer to get teams to the negotiating table. that 20 million dollars goes to Tanaka's team in Japan. Tanaka himself is still looking at 100 million dollars...he gets to choose which teams he negotiates with ( of those that bid 20 million to talk to him).
