Tanaka over Kuroda

(Koji Watanabe/Getty)

Hiroki Kuroda was the Yankees best starter this year and he would have been an all-star this year if Jim Lelyland had the sense to see that win-loss isn't important but I guess neither is bringing in a lefty to face David Ortiz. The fact of the matter though is that Kuroda is winding down his career and may in fact retire, so he doesn't really hep the rotation long term. However Kuroda is proven in the MLB while Tanaka isnt and everyone fears the Japanese player coming over and busting like Kei Igawa or underperformed like Dice-K or Hideki Irabu and so Japanese players become untouchable to them. In fact the Yankees subscribed to this logic after getting burned by Igawa and so they did not want to pursue Yu Darvish, but with their plan to get under the $189 million budget Tanaka is someone they should definitely go after. The Yankees have a definite interest in him as they have sent their top evaluators to watch him pitch, which is definitely a step up from their scouting of Igawa which as essentially none, but with Tanaka they reportedly have been to almost all of his starts. First off Tanaka would need to be posted and that posting fee would not apply against the luxury tax and while the posting system may change this off season as the MLB and NPB renegotiate the system, I doubt very much that the posting fee will apply to the Luxury tax after the negotiations.
 Secondly Tanaka has been fantastic in Japan, posting a 1.24 ERA with a WHIP of 0.934 and his career numbers are all excellent, especially considering he made his debut in 2007 when he was 18 and it wasn't a cup of coffee either he pitched 28 starts and threw 186 innings that season. Via Ben Badler Tanaka reportedly sits in the low-90s with a fastball that touches 96, with a low-80s slider and a mid-80s splitter, the splitter is apparently very common is the Asia Leagues. Badler says scouts have some concern because he doesn’t get good plane on the pitch and it’s more hittable than the velocity suggests, which is why he is profiled as a number 2 and solid contributor rather than a Cy Young contender. Kuroda isnt a Cy Young contender but that doesn't somehow invalidate him as a pitcher, the Yankees need solid pitchers and while Kuroda has already proven that he can be a solid contributor, Tanaka could be one for years to come and could do so at a much lower cost than signing Matt Garza. There are so many people out there who say that the Yankees shouldn't do it because he might be the next Igawa, but you know what so might Matt Garza or Tim Lincecum and the Yankees (and their fans) should not refuse to acknowledged this guy because they are afraid of what happened before. There have been some very successful Korean and Japanese imports outside of the notable failures of others as Iwakuma, Ryu and Darvish all had great seasons. This is the simple fact of the matter the Yankees farm system has failed to develop one impact player outside of Brett Gardner or the bullpen since Robinson Cano and they need to catch up, signing Tanaka would be a huge way to catch up, he rotation could suddenly become a plus. The title of this article is honestly a bit misleading as I don't even think the Yankees should really spurn Kuroda for Tanaka its just that if it comes down to it I would much rather have Tanaka for the next several years than to hold on to Kuroda for one more year.