NEWSLETTER
The New York Yankees are set to re-sign starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year deal for $16 million, plus incentives, per Joel Sherman.
With another $16 million in luxury tax cap space used up on Kuroda, the Yankees’ ability to land Masahiro Tanaka while still retaining Robinson Cano is questionable. This all plays out against the backdrop of Cano’s will-he-won’t-he love story with the Mariners (at last check, despite this morning’s hubbub, Jon Heyman said a deal remained close with the Mariners). There’s also the matter of Alex Rodriguez’s suspension appeal – which could net the Yankees another $25 million in luxury tax cap space – still lingering out there, likely until after the holidays. In other words, there’s a lot of dust to be settled before the full implications from a single signing like Kuroda can be fully understood.
Speaking of dust to settle? We still don’t have word from Masahiro Tanaka’s team in Japan that he’ll actually definitely be posted this offseason.
What we do know is that the Yankees are likely to be interested in Tanaka, and likely to have a fair bit of money to play with if he’s made available. They reportedly still want another starting pitcher, even after re-signing Kuroda, so they’re still in the market either way.
