The Yankees have already said they will make an aggressive push for him, but they also need to re-sign their free agents, who include Robinson Cano, Hiroki Kuroda, Boone Logan, and Curtis Granderson. The Yankees would certainly benefit from Tanaka, and may forgo the financial penalties to sign him and lock up Cano.
The Cubs have been involved in all recent Japanese postings, and that goes double for Theo Epstein, who lead the charge to sign Daisuke Matsuzaka when the posting process was relatively new to fans and sports writers.
Tanaka is expected to cost $50-60 million for the posting fee and another $60 million dollars plus over a long-term deal. It would not surprise me to see a posting fee of $65 million or higher if the Yankees deem the Cubs or Dodgers serious, which they have been with other Japanese players in recent year so they likely will.
Right now, he is the top available pitcher on the market. He is drawing the most interest, and his upside soars past Matt Garza, Ricky Nolasco, and Ervin Santana.
The Cubs are looking to add a starter and may turn to Tanaka to anchor the rotation and let the Jeff Samardzija situation work itself out. The Cubs have a lot of young talent coming through the pipeline and haven't really made a big splash beyond the Edwin Jackson move.
Adding Tanaka would give the Cubs a lot of options, as well as a bona fide starter capable of pitching at a high-level for the next decade. It would also give them a little breathing room to consider trading Samardzija or locking him up as well.
Samardzija is set to be a free agent after the 2015 season. People are already speculating about his future and that will only increase as he gets closer to that date. If he finds success or struggles, contract talks and trade talks will be the questions that need answers.
After the offseason, it will be in his interest to find out where the two sides stand with each other.
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