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.  

2013 MLB Predictions: American League West

1st - Los Angeles Angels:

The Angels stole the offseason headlines for the second consecutive season with the signing of slugger Josh Hamilton to a five-year deal worth $125 million.  Besides signing Hamilton, the Angels improved their pitching staff.  The Angels signed Ryan Madson and Sean Burnett to bolster their bullpen, and acquired Joe Blanton, Tommy Hanson and Jason Vargas to fill the holes in their rotation.

The Angels are an extremely talented team, with one of the best lineups in baseball led by Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton.  On paper the Angels are one of the best teams in baseball and expect them to win close to 100 games this season.

2nd - Oakland Athletics:

The A's have a terrific young core of players returning from last year.  Even though they have lost some  contributors from last year, do not be surprised if they are an even better team with their offseason acquisitions.  Jed Lowrie and Chris Young (OF) were both acquired in trades, and Japanese import Hiroyuki Nakajima was signed to fill the hole at shortstop.

If the young pitchers are able to continue from where they left off last season, and Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes do not struggle offensively, the A's will be in position to contend for a AL Wild Card.

3rd - Texas Rangers:

The Rangers had a very disappointing offseason, loosing many key players from last season and being unable to sign any big name players.

Josh Hamilton, Mike Napoli, Michael Young, Ryan Dempster, Mike Adams, and Koji Uehara have all signed with other teams this offseason.  Loosing all of these quality veteran players will hurt the Rangers this season.  

Aging veterans A.J. Pierzynski and Lance Berkman were brought in this offseason to replace some of the offensive production they lost.  These two players will help, but the Rangers will no longer have a dominating offense that they have had in previous years.

At some point Jurickson Profar will be contributing at the major league level, but the Rangers offense will struggle to much to help the Rangers make the playoffs.  The Rangers will finish just short of making the playoffs this season.

4th - Seattle Mariners:

This offseason the Mariners turned their focus to improving their dreadful offense.  Over the past three seasons the Mariners have scored the least amount of runs in the American League.  Both Kenrdys Morales and Michael Morse were acquired via trade this offseason, and they will make an immediate impact on their offense.

The Mariners have deep farm system with many talented prospects and some of them will help the Mariners this year.  The Mariners have a talented team, with even more talent in the minors, but they are still a year away from being a playoff contender.

5th- Houston Astros:

This will be the Astros first season apart of the American League, and they will have a grueling time winning games.  This offseason the Astros signed multiple low cost veterans, to go along with their young core of players.  Their biggest move was trading Jed Lowrie to the A's for young, slugger Chris Carter and pitching prospect Brad Peacock.

The Astros are in a rebuilding mode and are years from being a competitive team, and they will finish last in the AL West.