This Day in New York Yankees History 12/19: Enter Eovaldi

On this day in 2014 the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins hooked up for a trade that would change the face of both franchises for the 2015 season. The Yankees sent RHP David Phelps and second baseman Martin Prado to the Miami Marlins in exchange for RHP Nathan Eovaldi, outfielder Garrett Jones and RHP Domingo German.


Also on this day in 2006, in an absolute knee jerk reaction to the Daisuke Matsuzaka signing with the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees signed Kei Igawa. The posting fee was $26 million and Igawa would sign a five year deal worth $20 million to become AAA's all time wins leader in the Yankees system. The Yankees later admitted to not even knowing what pitches Igawa threw at the time of the signing. Live and learn.


Finally on this day in 2002 the New York Yankees signed 28 year old outfielder Hideki Matsui to a three year deal worth $21 million. Matsui is coming off a season in Japan where he posted a .334 with 50 home runs and 107 RBI's. Godzilla is a three time Japanese League MVP and turned down the Yomiuri Giants four year deal worth $33 million.

This Day in New York Yankees History 12/19: Enter Eovaldi

On this day in 2014 the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins hooked up for a trade that would change the face of both franchises for the 2015 season. The Yankees sent RHP David Phelps and second baseman Martin Prado to the Miami Marlins in exchange for RHP Nathan Eovaldi, outfielder Garrett Jones and RHP Domingo German.


Also on this day in 2006, in an absolute knee jerk reaction to the Daisuke Matsuzaka signing with the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees signed Kei Igawa. The posting fee was $26 million and Igawa would sign a five year deal worth $20 million to become AAA's all time wins leader in the Yankees system. The Yankees later admitted to not even knowing what pitches Igawa threw at the time of the signing. Live and learn.


Finally on this day in 2002 the New York Yankees signed 28 year old outfielder Hideki Matsui to a three year deal worth $21 million. Matsui is coming off a season in Japan where he posted a .334 with 50 home runs and 107 RBI's. Godzilla is a three time Japanese League MVP and turned down the Yomiuri Giants four year deal worth $33 million.

Top 5 Worst Yankees Free Agent Contracts Ever

It's the final day of 2014 so let's take a quick look at the worst free agent signings for the Yankees ever:

5. Jose Contreras - 4 years $32 million

He was no "El Duque" and was signed in 2003 and traded in 2004 for Esteban freaking Loaiza. Come on.

4. Kei Igawa - 5 years $20 million

3. Ed Whitson - 5 years $4.5 million

Whitson had ugly ERA numbers for his year and a half in New York, broke Billy Martin's arm in 1985 and received death threats from Yankees fans due to his poor performance.

2. Carl Pavano - 4 years $39.95 million

Four years and roughly $40 million for 26 starts and a 0.4 WAR

1. Alex Rodriguez -10 years $252.87 million plus incentives ($320 million cap)

Enough said.

Honorable mentions:

Dave Collins - 3 years $2.47 million
Spike Owen - 3 years $7 million
Pascual Perez - 3 years $5.7 million

This Day in New York Yankees History 12/19: Japanese Take Out

On this day in 2006, in an absolute knee jerk reaction to the Daisuke Matsuzaka signing with the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees signed Kei Igawa. The posting fee was $26 million and Igawa would sign a five year deal worth $20 million to become AAA's all time wins leader in the Yankees system. The Yankees later admitted to not even knowing what pitches Igawa threw at the time of the signing. Live and learn.

Also on this day in 2002 the New York Yankees signed 28 year old outfielder Hideki Matsui to a three year deal worth $21 million. Matsui is coming off a season in Japan where he posted a .334 with 50 home runs and 107 RBI's. Godzilla is a three time Japanese League MVP and turned down the Yomiuri Giants four year deal worth $33 million.

2017 Will Be a Good Season for New York

The 2017 New York Yankees will be World Series champions, write that down in pen because it's going to happen. Looking at the current state of the Yankees contracts and all the money they have coming off the books New York almost has to win the World Series after the 2016 season much like they did in 2009 when a ton of money came off the books from 2008.

Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu, Kei Igawa, and other notable contracts came off the Yankees board before they went on a spending spree that saw CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Nick Swisher, and Mark Teixeira join the ranks. Eight seasons later following the 2016 season the Yankees will see CC Sabathia. Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, and Carlos Beltran come off the board for somewhere around $100 million in payroll flexibility.

I know it's way too early to start thinking three seasons from now but the correlation between the 2009 Yankees and the 2017 Yankees is shaping up to be a big one. Stick it out and stay tuned.

This Day In New York Yankees History 12/19

On this day in 2002 the New York Yankees signed 28 year old outfielder Hideki Matsui to a three year deal worth $21 million. Matsui is coming off a season in Japan where he posted a .334 with 50 home runs and 107 RBI's. Godzilla is a three time Japanese League MVP and turned down the Yomiuri Giants four year deal worth $33 million.

On this day in 2006, in an absolute knee jerk reaction to the Daisuke Matsuzaka signing with the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees signed Kei Igawa. The posting fee was $26 million and Igawa would sign a five year deal worth $20 million to become AAA's all time wins leader in the Yankees system. The Yankees later admitted to not even knowing what pitches Igawa threw at the time of the signing. Live and learn.

King: Yankees Will Be "Big Bidders" On Tanaka

George A. King reports that the Yankees are expected to be "big bidders" for Masahiro Tanaka this offseason when he is posted by his team in the Japanese League. The Yankees may finally be ready to step back into the international free agency pool after missing out on big signings like Yu Darvish, Yoenis Cespedes, Yasiel Puig, and Jorge Soler and recent years. I guess missing out on Daisuke Matsuzaka, thankfully, and Kei Igawa left a sour taste of Japanese food in the Yankees mouths in recent offseasons but the Yankees seem to be ready to jump back in.

The Yankees are entering the offseason without three of their five starting pitchers in Phil Hughes, Andy Pettitte, and Hiroki Kuroda. The Yankees are expected to be very active in the free agent starting pitchers pool as their farm system has shown less than spectacular results in the starting pitching department and Tanaka may be at the top of their wish list.

Assistant general manager Billy Eppler and scout Don Wakamatsu were sent to Japan to scout him and have seen every start he has made since Tanaka expressed interest in being posted this offseason. The Yankees are doing their homework, unlike when they signed Kei Igawa not even knowing what pitches he threw, and the Yankees scouts think that he could be the best pitcher to come out of Japan ever. Wakamatsu was quoted as saying the following about the Yu Darvish and Tanaka comparison:

"He is better than Darvish because he is a strike thrower,'' the scout said. "Overall, Darvish's stuff might be a little bit better, but this guy knows how to pitch. He is like Kuroda, he has a lot of guts. He throws four pitches but when it gets to [stone]-cutting time, it's fastball and splitter.''

Tanaka will not be posted before November 1st and if the Japanese World Series goes seven games the season will not officially end until November 3rd so we have some time before we really worry with this. Experts speculate that the bidding could match or exceed the $60,000,000 it took just to talk with Yu Darvish and that is before Tanaka gets an expected five year deal worth another $60,000,000.

Tanaka finished the 2013 season with a perfect 20-0 record and a 1.24 ERA in 181 innings spread across 23 starts. Tanaka threw seven complete games and has not had an ERA above 2.00 since the 2010 season. The Yankees seem to be serious about making a run at Tanaka this offseason and this makes me, and it should make all Yankees fans, very very happy.

Yankees Interested In Masahiro Tanaka

Masahiro Tanaka is the 24 year old right handed starting pitcher currently pitching for the Japanese League team Rakuten Golden Eagles that is set to be posted after the 2013 season. The Yankees have stayed away from Japanese League pitching for the most part since the Kei Igawa and Hideki Irabu fiascoes but maybe the emergence of Yu Darvish and Hiroki Kuroda can change their mind a little because he is pitching well in the Japanese League. He has missed some time over his young career with shoulder inflammation and shoulder strains but has put up a 1.57 with a 9 K/9 rate since the beginning of the 2012 season. There are obvious concerns with his health, whether his stuff can translate to the majors, mechanics, etc but the Yankees have to strike gold with a Japanese pitcher eventually, no?