THANKSGIVING DAY RUMOR: OHTANI IS ON THE WAY!

First things first, HAPPY THANKSGIVING from all of us at BYB to all of you. We hope that you spend the day with friends and family making memories, enjoying all of your family traditions and eating a lot of good food. The holidays are OFFICIALLY here now.

So now that the holidays are here we all probably have a wish list item or two. At the top of my Yankee wish list this year would have to be making an exciting free agent splash. What would be a more exciting splash then signing Shohei Otani? Or....is it Shohei Ohtani? Whatever the spelling, he's an exciting wish list item for any team.

I am trying not to get ahead of myself here but media reports everywhere are running with the Yankees as the "favorite" and likely team to sign him. The more hype I read, the more excited I get. Look at ESPN, and New York Post and the NY Daily News stories. ALL of them say insiders are giving the Yankees the best odds. Rumors can be wrong, but man....let's hope this one is right on the money!

ESPN says that cities that have a large Japanese population might have a greater chance is signing him (duh) and other Japanese players could be great ambassadors for their teams. It will be interesting to see if or how those factors will play a role in any of this.

I love the confidence that scouts have with Ohtani signing with the Yankees but the Dodgers are another good fit for him. Can you imagine a starting rotation led by Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw? That would be a devastating 1-2 punch. The Dodgers certainly have that Japan tie working in their favor with Yu Darvish, Kenta Maeda and even Hiroki Kuroda too before his Yankee days. The fact that he would also hit in the lineup easily could be appealing to him.

I wouldn't count the Seattle Mariners out either. They need pitching and have a history of signing Japanese players. They have ambassadors in Ichiro Suzuki and Hisashi Iwakuma but not as much money to sign him and aren't as competitive as other interested teams.

What about the Texas Rangers?  They need the pitching and they have the most money available to sign Ohtani but not by much. Maybe the small difference in money and the promise of being part of a contending young Yankees team will convince him to come to the Bronx.

I hope all of these expert reports are true and maybe Masahiro Tanaka can recruit and make this a done deal!

Happy Thanksgiving BYB family!

--Jeana Bellezza
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj

TANAKA TAKES RIGHETTI'S #19

Masahiro Tanaka has chosen his number.  While he was in Japan, he wore #18.  But now, with Hiroki Kuroda wearing 18, Tanaka had to choose another.  He chose #19 the former number of good old Dave Righetti.

The Yankees tweeted this picture below of the new uniform of Tanaka. Looks like he just took the next best number, the one closest to 18. Check it out:

The #Yankees pinstripes are ready for Tanaka. pic.twitter.com/qMd5Xx8i0a
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) January 24, 2014

I read an interesting nugget that I wasn't aware of. #18 in Japan is a very unique honor. In fact, I was reading Wikipedia and it said this about Japanese baseball and 18:

"In Nippon Professional Baseball, the Japanese big leagues, the number 18 is often reserved for the ace pitcher. Upon arriving in the MLB, Japanese "import" pitchers have sought the number again (notably Hiroki Kuroda, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Hisashi Iwakuma)."

Interesting right?

Anyway, I thought I'd bring that to you... enjoy your Sunday. I cannot wait until Spring Training!

Thank you to all the Bleeding Yankee Blue readers for continued success.  You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in the history of Yankees fandom.  Thanks for reading, sharing and enjoying. Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue (Official) on Facebook, just type it in.

I DON'T GET IT. WE'RE RANKING "TANAKA INTEREST" NOW?

I love reading Ben Badler of Baseball America. There has never been a thing I didn't like about his work, until today, when I read a piece discussing team interest and the "lurkers" and "sleepers" and sure things in pursuit of Masahiro Tanaka.  Now, truth be told, there is never a crystal ball when it comes to signing big names to big contracts. You're all smart, you know this.  I mean, if there was, we would have know that the Yankees were going to swoop in and sign Mark Teixeira even though the Red Sox were the "favorites" a while back. And who would have guessed Detroit was going to sign Prince Fielder just in time for the 2012 season?  Not me. I didn't see it coming.

In Badler's piece, there were 10 teams ranked as who are the closest to get Tanaka 10 is furthest away and 1 is the best chance. 10 through 3 are the Los Angeles Angels (10), the Boston Red Sox (9), the Arizona Diamondbacks (8), the Toronto Blue Jays (7), the Texas Rangers (6), the Detroit Tigers (5), the Chicago Cubs (4), and the Los Angeles Dodgers (3).

Then came number 2 and 1.  2 is the Yankees and number 1 is the Seattle Mariners.

Here's what Badler says of the Yankees:

"The Yankees desperately need pitching. Even as he enters his age-39 season, Hiroki Kuroda is still a frontline starter, but beyond him the red flags are whipping across the rest of the rotation.

CC Sabathia has lost nearly 3 mph off his fastball over the last two years and is coming off a year with a 4.78 ERA, the worst of his 13-year career. There’s Ivan Nova behind him, and perhaps Michael Pineda can return and be a mid-rotation starter, but he’s extremely risky. Maybe Manny Banuelos can help at some point, but the Yankees can’t count on much from him or anyone else in a farm system that’s thin on starting pitching.

The Yankees are reportedly trying to stay under the $189 million luxury tax, which they’re already pushing up against. Having Alex Rodriguez’s $25 million wiped away would give them more flexibility, which is why Tanaka probably won’t sign until after a decision on Rodriguez’s suspension is announced...

The only penalty for going over the luxury tax is money. The Yankees have plenty of that. What they don’t have is pitching, either in the majors or the minors. The Yankees have sent several of their top personnel to Japan to scout Tanaka, and if they think he’s a frontline starter, that could be an upgrade of four or five wins in a competitive American League East.

If that helps get them to the playoffs, it will be worth the tax money."

Then Balder gives his number 1 pick, the Mariners. Check this out:

"...the Mariners are the favorites to land him. That doesn’t mean they will sign him, but based on conversations with industry officials, Seattle’s resources and the makeup of the team, they are a strong fit.

The Mariners have money to spend. They have a new regional television contract that will pay them $2 billion over 17 years. The Mariners showed off their deep pockets earlier this offseason by signing Robinson Cano to a 10-year, $240 million contract, outbidding everyone by a wide margin... The money is there and so is the need. Seattle’s desire to trade for David Price is no secret. They need to upgrade the team to contend in 2014 and take advantage of Hernandez and Cano while they’re still stars. And the current makeup of the team isn’t enough for them to be strong contenders in the AL West.

(In Photo: Hisashi Iwakuma)

Tanaka would help change that. A starting rotation with Hernandez, Tanaka and Iwakuma (Tanaka’s former Rakuten teammate) would give them three frontline starters, with another potential premium starter in 21-year-old Taijuan Walker, though it may be too soon to count on him performing at that level next season. It would be one of baseball’s scariest rotations, with James Paxton and Erasmo Ramirez candidates to round out the final spot."

But what does it all mean? Sure, I guess anyone can choose the Mariners as the top team to land Tanaka, but aren't they the same team that just came out to claim they were broke?  And what about GM Jack Zduriencik claiming they "aren't going to be making a huge splash" since Robinson Cano and Corey Hart:



So what do you make from that? Are they bluffing? Plus, what's to say the Yankees don't throw everything at Tanaka, especially if Alex Rodriguez gets suspended. I'd say the chances are very, very good for the Yankees over the Mariners here, but of course, I'm biased.

Look, the New York Yankees have made it clear they need to do something to bolster their rotation.  There has been talk from Badler that a Tanaka / Iwakuma rotation in Seattle would be great.  I'll up you one; How about Tanaka / Kuroda?  Even Vernon Wells believes that saying "He's a great person to be a mentor to him." You know what? Wells might feel like the guy with one foot out the door, but he sure knows how to schmooze Yankeeland.  Wells makes sense, and I hope the Yankees take that into account.

Look, I'm not really giving Badler a hard time here. I am confused about ranking "interest".  I really don't think it makes much sense.  What's to say the Red Sox don't have a secret stash somewhere to sign Tanaka at the 11th hour?  How about the Dodgers? You know what I mean?

In the end, something will happen and here at Bleeding Yankee Blue, we "rank" the Yankees first to land Masahiro Tanaka... not that it really means anything... we'll just have to let it play out. But I will tell you this... the Yankees have lost out on big time pitchers before and looking at their rotation right this second, even Yankee brass knows there are too many question marks. What I'm trying to say is, there's going to pull the trigger to get Tanaka "big time"... because they don't want to be stuck in the middle of an empty parking lot with their dick in their hand without him...

To be honest, I don't even know what that means... but you get my point. 

Thank you to all the Bleeding Yankee Blue readers for continued success.  You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in the history of Yankees fandom.  Thanks for reading, sharing and enjoying. Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue (Official) on Facebook, just type it in.

LATE GAME HEROICS BY NIX HELP YANKS WIN SERIES IN SEATTLE

The New York Yankees entered this game against Seattle having lost their last six games when facing a rookie starting pitcher. Wouldn't you know it, the Mariners were starting rookie right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma.  The Yankees really needed a win, but the deck seemed stacked against our struggling offense that was further handicapped by the loss of Alex Rodriguez to a broken hand.

Derek Jeter gave the Yanks a spark when he homered in the first.  With ARod lost to the disabled list for a six to eight week period, Jeter was batting second in the re-shuffled Yankee lineup for the first time this season.  Apart from giving the Yankees an early 1-0 lead, Jeter had to be pleased that he hit the shot to left field following yet another brush back pitch from a Mariner pitcher.

Unfortunately, Yankee starter Ivan Nova could not respond.  He allowed two runs in the bottom of the first.  Nova yielded back to back singles to Michael Saunders and Jesus Montero.  He also allowed back to back walks to John Jaso and Kyle Seager.  The Seager walk produced an RBI as Saunders was forced home, and a 3-6 fielder's choice off the bat of Mike Carp scored Montero.  Just that quickly, the Yankee lead had evaporated.

Nova only allowed two hits and the two first inning runs during his 5+ inning outing.  Despite walking six, Ivan Nova was able to keep the Yankees close. Bottom line, he didn't have great command and only 58 of his pitches were strikes.

Later on, Ichiro laced a one out single to center, but was caught stealing.  Jeter followed with a single to center and Robinson Cano doubled to left.  Jeter had to stop at third.  Mark Teixeira then flew out to right field to end the inning in which the Yankee managed to score no runs on three hits.

The game rocked along at 2-1 into the eighth inning.  Yankee relievers Clay Rapada, David Phelps, and David Robertson combined for three innings of both hitless and scoreless work.  Offensively, the Yankees found a little groove in their half of the eighth.  Derek Jeter was hit by a pitch, again, and the Mariners replaced Josh Kinney with lefty Lucas Luetge.  Luetge allowed singles to Jeter and Cano to load the bases.  Following a fly out by Curtis Granderson, Girardi played his trump card.  

He opted to pinch-hit Jayson Nix for Raul Ibanez, and in so doing, he forced Mariner manager Eric Wedge to bring in a right hander.  Nix immediately responded with a 3-run double to left field.  His drive cleared the bases and the Yankees finally had a lead at 4-2.  Russell Martin added an RBI single to score Nix, and the Yankees had a 5-2 lead and their highest run total of any game on the road trip!!!

Rafael Soriano closed out the 9th inning and recorded his 26th save.  He allowed one hit and struck out one in the process. The Yanks will now head home with a series win against the Mariners following the 5-2 win today.

The Boston Red Sox will be in New York for a three game series starting Friday...be ready.

--Frank Gentry, BYB Writer

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