Roger Arrieta
When Hideo Nomo signed with the Dodgers back in February 1995, fans in Los Angeles (as well as in the rest of the country, for that matter) didn’t really know what to expect. I was preparing for the start of baseball season during my freshman year of high school and I remember being intrigued by Nomo’s potential, as it had been described to Dodgers fans during spring training. Of course, once the 1995 season had started, it became clear that Nomo was pretty special—a phenom, really. Only Fernando and Puig have created that type of rookie buzz in a Dodgers uniform in the past 35 years.
Nomo went on to be NL Rookie of the Year, an All Star, threw a no-hitter in Coors Field (which, at the time, was an astounding feat), and had a solid career with the Dodgers that included five full seasons. More importantly, though, his success making the jump from Japan paved the way for other players from Asia—Ichiro Suzuki, Chan Ho Park, Hideki Matsui, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Takashi Saito, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hiroki Kuroda, Yu Darvish, Hyun-jin Ryu, and Hisashi Iwakuma are just the biggest names that come to mind over the past 19 years. The most common denominator among these players: four of them started their respective careers with the Dodgers (not including Kazuhisa Ishii, who had a modest and brief career in LA). That isn’t a coincidence—the Dodgers have prided themselves on being an ideal landing spot for Asian pitchers—whether it be because of the organization itself, or simply the benefits of living in Los Angeles.
The Dodgers (or at least their fans) are counting on these two factors to help land another pitching star from Japan—Masahiro Tanaka. Tanaka is 25, and by all accounts, the best pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball (the Japanese version of Major League Baseball). He just completed a season during which he compiled a record of 24-0, had an ERA of 1.27, and a WHIP of 0.94. None of the Japanese pitchers mentioned above ever put together a season like that prior to pitching in the major leagues. He regularly throws a mid-90s fastball, and also throws both a curveball and a slider, but the pitch that has really made him stand out as an ace is his splitter.
As could be expected, the teams that have been rumored to be interested in signing Tanaka after he was posted by his Japanese team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles, are the Angels, Dodgers, Red Sox, and Yankees. But in the past week or so, those choices appear to have been narrowed down to the Dodgers and Yankees. The Dodgers have publicly maintained that they will do their due diligence, but haven’t shown any outward willingness to pull out all the stops to sign Tanaka. With Kershaw, Greinke, and Ryu in tow, Tanaka would really be an embarrassment of riches. The Yankees, haven’t been as coy, perhaps, about their interest, but it’s no secret that they could desperately use Tanaka in their starting rotation, and former-Dodger Hiroki Kuroda is currently a member of that rotation and an obvious would-be mentor.
Tanaka has been rumored to be seeking almost $20 million per season for at least five seasons—which would put his total contract at $100 million (at the very least). While the Dodgers and Yankees have never been known to shy away from big contracts, the Dodgers are rumored to be nearing a 10+ year, $250+ million contract extension with Clayton Kershaw. According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the extension could actually be agreed upon by the end of this week. Earlier this off-season, there had been rumors about the Dodgers also agreeing to a sizeable extension with Hanley Ramirez. Add up all of those contracts and we’re looking at over $400 million!
While there are any number of reasons—outside of money—that will nudge (or push) a free agent towards one team or another, Masahiro Tanaka also has a wife who has apparently factored into the decision-making process. Mai Sotada, a blossoming pop star in Japan, has a strong desire to be on the West Coast, according to a source. Without speculating too much as to how strong that desire really is, similar contract offers from the Dodgers and Yankees may leave the advantage with LA. Of course, it’s not uncommon for this type of speculation to run rampant when any major free agent is deciding which team to sign with—and it’s always difficult to tell which stories are real and which are planted as negotiating ploys. But one thing, if nothing else, Is clear: the Dodgers, and LA, have always been known to be a welcoming, and rather ideal, destination for any free agent pitcher from Japan—and if Masahiro Tanaka follows history, he knows that the Dodgers could provide just the right combination of factors to recreate some of that Nomo magic from 19 years ago.
