Wanting to pitch in Major League Baseball appears like it won’t be enough for Masahiro Tanaka. Several news outlets in Japan are reporting that the Rakuten Golden Eagles, who control the rights to Tanaka until the end of 2015, would not permit major league teams to bid for him.
The team reportedly will offer Tanaka a new contract that will double this salary for the coming year to approximately $8 million. Tanaka, 25, had a 1.27 ERA in 212 innings this season in Japan and it high on a number of teams list should he be posted.
Tanaka would easily command a contract of $100 million in MLB.
Bottom line is the Eagles would receive $20 million for the posting fee, however Tanaka could produce much more than that in revenue. Keeping Tanaka would enhance their chances at repeating as champions in Japan, and they would avoid millions of dollars in lost ticket, food and merchandise sales.
Ultimately its a business decision and it sounds like the Eagles have made one. This could all change on a moments notice so stay tuned.
