Yankees Signed Tanaka

Masahiro Tanaka the prized pitching prospect out of Japan, decided to sign with the New York Yankees for seven years, $155 million with an opt out after four years according to Bowtie Rosenthal.

The Yankees this year have spent almost $400 million dollars on an injury prone outfielder (Jacoby Ellsbury) a catcher who is good but not great (Brian McCann) and on an unproven pitcher (Tanaka). No wonder they're so desperate to frame get rid of Alex Rodriguez's contract.

I still don't see this move by the Yankees, or their other moves, making them better than the Red Sox and especially the Rays. I say that because their infield is a mess. They don't know what's going to happen at third. Jeter is old and coming off an injury plagued season. Cano is gone at second. Teixeira also had an injury plagued season at first. Ellsbury is good when healthy for the outfield. Brett Gardner is an okay player. Ichiro ain't getting younger. And I'm suppose to believe their lineup is going to push them over the top even if the rotation is improved?

And what about their rotation? They're going to rely on a right-handed, unproven pitcher to pitch to left handed hitters in that band box? And what about the rest of the rotation? Sabathia has lost a ton of weight but will that improve his performance? Kuroda is solid. Ivan Nova I guess is also a solid pitcher.

But can the Yankees purely revolve the fortunes of their team around their rotation in the AL East? You can do that in the NL West, but can you do that in a hitter friendly division like the AL East? It's going to be interesting. Good luck Tanaka.