The Los Angeles Dodgers made a huge free agency splash on Friday after signing hometown favorite Clayton Kershaw to a record-breaking deal for a Major League Baseball pitcher.
The Dodgers agreed to a lucrative seven-year deal worth $215 million with Kershaw, who had the best ERA in the last three MLB seasons. Upon signing Kershaw, speculations suggested that the Dodgers have given up on their bid to land free agent pitcher Masahiro Tanaka.
Recent reports suggested that Tanaka is planning to sign either with the Dodgers or the New York Yankees.
Despite giving Kershaw the highest salary for a pitcher in MLB history, Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti announced that the team is not yet done bolstering their starting rotation, saying that the club is still talking to Tanaka and his representatives.
"We're still, first and foremost, concerned with the quality of the team we can put together, and adding it up comes second," Colletti said in a statement via ESPN. "This is a long-term strategy of ours. After five or six or seven years, it will make a lot more sense than it does to people looking at today's snapshot."
With the new deal, the 25-year-old pitcher is now committed to the Dodgers until he decides to opt out of his deal either in 2018 or 2020. Signing Tanaka will make the Dodgers a serious threat especially if the Japanese pitcher lives up to the expectations.
Tanaka reportedly attracted interests of at least one-third of the major league teams. The 25-year-old pitcher has until January 24 to make up his mind on where to play in the upcoming 2014 MLB season.
Aside from the Yankees and the Dodgers, recent reports suggested that Chicago Cubs and White Sox are still not giving up on their pursuit.
Fox Sports reporter Ken Rosenthal recently noted that the Cubs are still pushing hard for the right hander, who went 24-0 with an ERA of 1.27 for the Rakuten Golden Eagles in the Japanese League last year.
CSN Chicago, on the other hand, also reported that the White Sox are still in play, contrary to previous reports suggesting that they have already put themselves out of the bidding war due to the high asking price of the highly-coveted pitcher.
"We don't believe that money will be the biggest factor, so we're not going to give up until someone tells us no," White Sox executive vice president Kenny Williams stressed.
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