As expected, the Masahiro Tanaka sweepstakes has picked up and according to a report from Jon Heyman he is meeting with “as many as a dozen or so teams by Friday in the Los Angeles area.” Tanaka and his agent, Casey Close, started meeting with teams Wednesday. As many as five or six meetings are planned per day.
A report earlier in the week from Comcast SportsNet stated the Cubs and White Sox would be meeting with Masahiro Tanaka, likely in Chicago, this week but according to Heyman that is not the case.
The Cubs, Yankees, Dodgers, Angels, White Sox and Diamondbacks are among the teams thought to have meetings scheduled with Tanaka this week in Los Angeles. It is unknown, according to Heyman, if the Blue Jays have a meeting scheduled with Tanaka. Toronto has had “multiple discussions” with Tanaka and is also on the long list of teams that includes the Mariners, Tigers, A’s, Giants and Twins that have shown interest in Tanaka.
Jon Heyman could not confirm Tanaka has any meetings scheduled with teams. And his information lines up with what Kevin Towers told Steve Gilbert about the process. Teams have been asked to not really say anything or divulge the process or what is happening with it. Kevin Towers explained all of the teams interested in Tanaka are up to speed with what is going on but they have been asked not to share any of it.
According to Heyman, Masahiro Tanaka is “scheduled to be seen by a Los Angeles doctor while there in order to provide a medical status to all the interested teams.” Concern over his workload has raised questions about signing Tanaka to a long term, big money contract. The medical exam would help relieve some of those concerns.
Stay Tuned …
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