Where will Masahiro Tanaka land?

Talented starting pitchers are always sought after on the free agent market, and this offseason with the lack of quality pitching, Masahiro Tanaka will cash in big time.  Now the question is, which team will step up to the plate to sign the 25-year-old Japanese sensation?

There are a handful of teams who are believed to be seriously interested, and of course the high spending New York Yankees are the favorite to land the righties services; but just because the Yanks are the favorite, doesn't mean they will end up landing him.  Instead the Seattle Mariners will be the lucky organization to sign the young pitching star.

The Mariners have a huge presence in Japan due to their owner being Nintendo of America, and Ichiro Suzuki spending the majority of his career with them.  Plus with Hisashi Iwakuma, a former teammate of Tanaka, there is now a bigger connection.  Due to these connections and a comfort level with the organization, it will put the Mariners ahead of the other teams trying to land Tanaka.

Seattle has already signed the top bat on the market, and time will tell if they can add Tanaka to their already solid pitching staff.  Jack Zduriecik has shown that he wants to build a competitive team, and if he can get upper management to approve this move, it will take their ball club to the next level.  

Michael Young is a perfect fit at first base

Finding someone to play first base for the 2014 season has been atop the Milwaukee Brewers shopping list since the beginning of the offseason, and it is now time for the Brewers to finally check it off their list.  While they have explored options including resigning Corey Hart or trading for Ike Davis, nothing has happened yet.  One solution could be veteran infielder Michael Young.

The 14-year veteran is 37 years old, and although his great years are behind him, he still has enough left in the tank to be a solid contributor next season.  Young split last season with the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers showing his ability to still hit for average and get on base (.279/.335/.395).  While Young has played on the left side of the infield for most of his career, he has experience playing anywhere in the infield including first base.

Bringing in Young would not only fill their opening at first, but it would also allow the Brewers to give Hunter Morris more at-bats and time to develop in Triple-A.  He would also be a great clubhouse guy, who could teach the young Brewer hitters a few things about being successful big league hitters.

In this stage of Young's career he can still be a solid contributor, while playing on a short term deal for an affordable price.  He solves the Brewers first base issue for the short-term while the Brewers wait for their young first base prospects to be major league ready.  Signing Young makes so much sense, that the Brewers need to make sure that he is wearing their jersey next season.

The 3rd Man In Sounds Off: Tanaka isn't worth huge money

In baseball pitching wins championships.  While it sounds cliche it is true.  If you look around the major leagues, all the great franchises have great pitching.  This causes talented pitchers to be coveted and overvalued when they hit the open market, and Japanese pitching sensation Masahiro Tanaka is the latest example of this.

After months of speculation the 25-year-old phenom has officially been posted, and is expected to land a long-term deal that pays him at least $17 million per season, along with the $20 million release fee the team that signs him has to pay.

Last season the righty completely dominated in Japan going 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA in 212 innings, and in his seven years playing professionally he has gone 99-35 with a 2.30 ERA, while averaging almost a strikeout per inning.

Although those are impressive numbers, he has thrown more innings at a young age than anyone in baseball has in the past 35 years, as he has pitched in 1,315 innings throughout his young career.  Japanese pitchers are also know for having bigger workloads, and after a few seasons performing in the major leagues they tend to break down.  In fact out of the 11 Japanese born pitchers who have made 25 MLB starts, only Hideo Nomo and Hiroki Kuroda were able to reach that number three or more times.

These two statistics alone are reasons to be concerned, plus he has never faced a lineup anywhere near the level he will be facing in the majors on a consistent bases.

Signing any pitcher is a risk, but Tanaka seems to have more question marks surrounding him than most others usually do.  While signing a top of the rotation pitcher to a huge deal is not uncommon in today's age, signing someone who has no MLB experience and some miles on his shoulder is.  Baseball is a game of risks, but signing Tanaka to a major deal worth at least $17 million per season is a risk that will never live up to the reward.  

Red Sox sign submarine-style pitcher

When it comes to taking chances on Japanese players, the Boston Red Sox are notorious for doing so, as they have had five different Japanese pitchers pitch for them over the years.  So seeing the Red Sox going out and signing a Japanese pitcher is not uncommon, but when they sign a pitcher that has a delivery like Shunsuke Watanabe, it surprises some people.

(Watanable delivery in slow motion)

Watanable, 37, signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox last week, after spending 13 seasons with the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league.  Mostly as a starter the submarine-style pitcher posted a career record of 87-82 with a 3.65 ERA and 846 strikeouts in 255 games, 244 of them as starts.

He will report to minor league camp this spring, and will work as a reliever the Red Sox reported. Although people should not expect him to break camp on the major league roster, if he performs well in the minors, there is a good chance fans could see him in midsummer.

It is rare to see a pitcher with a submarine delivery, and hopefully Watanable will appear in at least one game with the Red Sox next season because if he does, he will go down as having the most unorthodox delivery baseball has ever seen.

Jesse Crain is worth the risk

First base is a glaring question mark for the Milwaukee Brewers right now, causing the bullpen holes to go under the radar, but they are just as important.  Jim Henderson, Brandon Kintzler and Tom Gorzelanny are the only relief pitchers guaranteed a spot for next season; otherwise the Brewers have a handful of players who have struggled to produce consistently at the major league level.

Veteran righty, Jesse Crain would be a great fit for the Milwaukee Brewers.  An All-Star a year ago, he missed the final three months of the season with a shoulder injury, but when he was healthy he had a 0.74 ERA in 36.2 innings while striking out 46 batters.

Assuming he is healthy and the Brewers could sign him to a contract with a small base salary, that is incentives based would be one of the biggest steals on the free agent market as he was having a career year until he got hurt last season.  

The Milwaukee Brewers have vacant spots in their bullpen, and signing Crain would solidify one of those spots.  He has had successes over his nine-year career pitching in late inning situations, and he would bring experience to a young Brewers bullpen.

The 3rd Man In Sounds Off: Brewers should trade Braun

It was a disastrous season for the Milwaukee Brewers a year ago as their face of their franchise, Ryan Braun, missed 101 games throughout the 162 game schedule.  Braun was on the shelf for 36 games due to injuries, and then missed the final 65 games for using Performance Enhancing Drugs.

Doug Melvin has said that Braun is not available for trade, but I think they need to rethink this.  With the Brewers years away from being a competitive ball club, trading Braun would be the solution to rebuilding one of the worst farm systems in all of baseball.  Braun definitely has trade value if the Brewers put him on the block even with seven-years, $113 million remaining left on his deal, and with the controversy surrounding his PED use.

While he still has to prove that he can be a productive player, he is in the prime of his career, and Braun said that he used the banned substance only at the end of the 2011 season to help with the injury, meaning we should all expect him to return to his MVP level of production.

With this free agent class only having one superstar available, and many teams needing a big bat, teams would have lined up to give Melvin their offers.  Plus as we have seen this offseason, players who have been cracked with using PEDs, have not seen their value decrease at all.  

Braun is one of the most affordable superstars in all of baseball, and while he brings some negative attention to the franchise, he still possesses great value.  Milwaukee is making a huge mistake by not dealing Braun to rebuild their farm system for the future, and this could be a decision that affects them long term with all four NL Central teams continuing to get better.

Who's on first?

After a disappointing season, the Milwaukee Brewers will have many questions entering the offseason.  First base was a revolving door for the Brewers, who used seven different players at that position, and finding someone to play there consistently, will be important.  

Brewers' management will have to decide if they want to bring back Corey Hart or promote slugging prospect, Hunter Morris.  Corey Hart was suppose to be the team's everyday first baseman this season, but he never stepped foot onto the field, due to two knees surgeries.  In Hart's nine seasons with the Brewers, he has been a solid contributor, averaging 17 home runs and 54 RBI's with a .276 average in 105 games.  Ever since he became an everyday player in 2007, he has averaged 139 games per season, and has been a two time All-Star.  

The other option the Brewers have is prospect Hunter Morris.  The slugging prospect had a good season this year, while he did not hit for a high average (.247), he did possess a lot of power.  In 134 games, he hit 24 home runs and drove in 74 RBI's.  The one negative Morris presents is his strikeout to walk ratio.  He struck out a 122 times compared to only 43 walks.  While this is something he will have to improve on, he is only 25 years old and possess good upside.  

This will not be an easy decision for Melvin and Co. to make, but they need to think about the future.  Hunter Morris is the best option for the Brewers going forward.  While he is not an established big leaguer like Hart, he possesses the potential of being a good Major League player.  The Brewers will not be a competitive team next year, so why pay a veteran more money to be in the way of their future?  It is time for the Brewers to move on from Hart and give the starting first base job to Hunter Morris.