Reports: Masahiro Tanaka will be posted by Rakuten Golden Eagles

Update, 10:42pm EST: Per a report that was passed on by Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times, the Rakuten Golden Eagles have officially announced that they plan to post Masahiro Tanaka, letting to finally come to The States after all. Rejoice!

Original: According to reports from Sponichi and Nikkan Sports in Japan, which were passed on by Dylan Hernandez, of the Los Angeles Time, the Rakuten Golden Eagles will let Masahiro Tanaka move to the United States and play the majors next season. The club has not announced it's decision, so nothing is official.

Tanaka, 25, went 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA last season in Japan, and was heavily scouted by the Yankees over the course of last season. He has been one of their top priorities, and are ready to go all-in on him if posted.

Many compare him to be the next Yu Darvish, while some scouts would say that he is good, but no Darvish good. The major league teams hoping to sign him would rather he be Darvish good.

MLB and NPB came to a new agreement on a posting system a couple weeks ago. It set a $20 million posting limit that Rakuten's owners were not happy about, leading to the debate over whether or not they would post him. They had been trying to decide if the should keep him and go after another league championship -- Rakuten won the NPB championship a couple weeks ago -- or post him and take the $20 million.

Hernandez cited from the story that the Golden Eagles had been think about keeping Tanaka to help improve their global brand.

The Chicago Cubs are expected to battle with the Yankees right until the very end for Tanaka's rights. A source told David Kaplen that he believes the Cubs will not be outbid on Tanaka. He also said convincing him to come to Chicago over places like New York and Los Angeles will be no easy task.

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Reports: Masahiro Tanaka will not be posted by the Rakuten Golden Eagles

If Masahiro Tanaka is posted by his Japanese club, the Rakuten Golden Eagles, he'll become the biggest free-agent on the market -- but that is still a big if.

According to the NY Times, Japanese reports are saying that Tanaka's club will not let him come to America to play in the MLB next season. Tanaka has already told the club that he wants to play in The States, but they are still doing everything they can to keep him.

Although the club has not announced any official decision, they have, reportedly, been trying to retain the big-time pitcher by doubling or even tripling his current $4 million salary to make him the highest paid Japanese player ever.

One Japanese report said the Tanaka is going to meet with the club on Friday, not to negotiate a new contract, but for the Golden Eagles owners to tell him that he will not be posted.

Before Major League Baseball and the Nippon Professional League agreed to a new posting system, Tanaka was expected to bring the Golden Eagles at least $60 million in the posting fee alone.

But the new posting system that was officially announced this past week set a max posting bid of just $20 million, upsetting the Rakuten owners. To them, $20 million is not enough to let go of their best player.

Keeping him would help keep the club in championship contention next season as the defending league champions, and would assure that tickets sales don't go down.

Under his current deal, if Tanaka were to stay in Japan, he would not be eligible to be posted until after this upcoming season, forcing MLB teams to wait another year to get the pitcher they're looking for.

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New posting system in place, Tanaka expected to be posted

Major League Baseball and the Nippon Professional Baseball league have officially announced an agreement on a new posting system that will allow Japanese players be posted by their clubs, letting them come play baseball in The States.

The two sides have been at the table chipping away at the terms of a new deal for most of the offseason, and now that they have a deal in place, the bidding war for top Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka can begin.

Here are the guid rules for the new system as laid out in the official press release:

* If an NPB Club wishes to make one of its players available to Major League Clubs, the NPB shall notify the Office of the Commissioner of the NPB player's potential availability and the "release fee" that a Major League Club must pay to the NPB Club in order to secure the NPB player's release. The NPB Club may not set the release fee at an amount higher than $20 million and the fee cannot be changed once it has been set by the NPB Club.

* The Office of the Commissioner shall then "post" the NPB player's availability by notifying all Major League Clubs of the NPB player's availability and the release fee sought by the NPB Club. 

* All "postings" of NPB players must be made between November 1st and February 1st. 

* Beginning the day after the player is posted, and concluding 30 days later, any Major League club willing to pay the release fee set by the NPB Club may then negotiate with the player in an attempt to reach an agreement on a contract. 

* If a Major League Club is able to reach an agreement on a contract with the posted NPB player, the Major League Club must pay the NPB Club the designated release fee, which will occur in installments, the timing of which depends on the size of the release fee.

* If the posted NPB player fails to reach an agreement with a Major League Club, the release fee is not owed, the NPB player remains under reserve to his NPB Club, and the player may not be posted again until the following November 1. 

* The term of the new posting agreement is three years, continuing from year-to-year thereafter until either the Office of the Commissioner or the NPB gives notice of its intent to terminate the agreement one hundred and eighty days prior to the anniversary of the commencement of the agreement. 

MLB Chief Operating Officer Rob Manfred said: "We are pleased to have amicably reached an agreement that addresses various issues raised by all parties. Major League Baseball values its longstanding professional relationship with Nippon Professional Baseball, and we look forward to continuing the growth of the great game we share in the years to come."

So none of the rules comes as much of a surprise. The release fee will be $20 million, and once the player is posted, all the teams that post the $20 million fee will have 30 days to negotiate a contract with the player.

Because of the small $20 million fee, compared to the old system in which teams took part in a blind bidding, more teams will have the chance to bid for Tanaka's services. The Yankees have been setting up to throw everything they have at Tanaka. He's their number one target, and with the need for another starting pitcher still there, I don't see why they wouldn't still be all-in on him.

There has been some confusion lately as to whether his Japanese club, the Rakuten Golden Eagles, would even post him with $20 million being the return, compared to the $60 million, or more, that he was expected to generate. Reports Monday said that his owner would try to have him pitch on Japan at least one more year, while it's now been stated that Tanaka will be posted.

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MLB, NPB closing in on a new posting agreement

The free-agent market for starting pitchers isn't exactly filled with talent this winter, but we could soon be adding a new name to that market.

According to multiple reports, MLB and the Nippon Professional Baseball league in Japan are coming close to agreement on a new posting system that would set a $20 million maximum bid, with the details after that still up in the air. Because of the $20 million max bid, there are two ways that the posting system could play out.

1. Let's say that 11 teams post the $20 million max bid on Masahiro Tanaka, the soon-to-be best pitcher on the market once he is posted by his Japanese team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles, then those 11 teams would earn the rights to negotiate a contract with him, and Tanaka would then choose what team he plays for next season.

In that scenario, every team should be able to put in $20 million for the chance to sign Tanaka, and I would bet that more than 11 teams would be in on him. It would be a fair system for both the team and player for getting to decide where he goes. Whoever he chooses would pay the NPB team the $20 million, and everyone else pays nothing.

2. Other reports are suggesting that this option would be the one put in place. MLB teams put in their bid, most likely the $20 million maximum, and then the team with the worst winning percentage the previous season wins the rights for the player's services. That means that Houston Astros are the top team in this case.

If this turns out to be the option chosen -- and I don't think it will be -- then it would completely take the Yankees out of the running to land Tanaka, and that would be a major disappointment considering he has been one of their top targets this offseason.

For the moment, nothing is official yet, as NPB still has to accept the proposal, but they are expected to do that soon, meaning Tanaka is coming. As far as to who he is coming to, and how, we'll have to wait.

Tanaka, a 25-year-old right hander, went 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 183 strikeouts in 212 innings pitched this past season, leading his team to the NPB championship. Many compare him to Yu Darvish, who has become one of the best pitchers in baseball since coming over to the Texas Rangers through the posting system two years ago.

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MLB still working out a new posting system

Major League Baseball is still working with the NPB to get a new posting system in place that would let Japanese players be posted by their teams to come to the States.

This news effects the Yankees very much because they have big plans to put every resource they have into winning the bid for right-hander Masahiro Tanaka, who is being called, by some, the next Yu Darvish.

The latest proposal by MLB, according to multiple reports, would put a limit on the size of a bid. In that event, if multiple teams tie with the highest bid, the player would either choose the team he wants to negotiate with, or the team with the worst record from the previous season would win the rights. It's all about whose report you believe on that one.

Jon Morosi of Fox Sports says that no deal between the two sides is imminent, but they are talking, which is good. MLB pulled their offer off the table a couple weeks ago because they felt that NPB was taking too long to give a response.

Tanaka can not be posted until after a new agreement is reached, and that means the Yankees are having to wait to get a chance to add him to the rotation, as planned. Besides Cano, Tanaka appears to be the Yankees' biggest priority this offseason.

Another posting system proposal this offseason included the team with the highest bid only having to pay the average of the top two bids.

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