All Right, Calm Down

So the Masahiro Tanaka madness has now officially begun, and you can expect the Yankees to be right in the thick of it, if not the eventual winner in the competition for the 25-year-old Japanese righthander's services. But if you're thinking that securing Tanaka for the next seven, eight, lord help us 10 years will ensure a new Jeter-Mo-Bernie-Andy-Jorge type dynasty, you need to lie down and put a cold cloth on your forehead.

First of all, with the new posting system recently ramrodded in place by small-market club owners (funny how it wasn't such a problem when the Red Sox and the Rangers were spending buckets of money, huh?), there is nothing close to a guarantee that Tanaka will be heading for a Bronx press conference anytime soon. Teams like the Cubs, Dodgers, Angels and, yes, Red Sox will be in the running, and we've seen lately that the Yankees are not necessarily going to be the most extravagant of suitors. It was nice knowing you, Mr. Cano.

But there's more to it than that.

Baseball writers and their sources who have seen Tanaka pitch in Japan liken him to Hiroshi Kuroda, not Yu Darvish. He's projected as a #2 or #3 starter in an MLB rotation. That's a valuable thing to have on your club, and the Yankees certainly could use him, but he's not the second coming of Walter Johnson, and he can't carry the Yankees to a championship on his shoulders alone.

Let's say the Yankees outbid half the baseball world and sign Tanaka. That gives them a rotation of CC Sabathia and his questionable velocity, Kuroda and his unmistakable age and stamina issues, Ivan (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) Nova, Tanaka, and someone from a group that includes Michael Pineda, Adam Warren, David Phelps and Vidal Nuno. If Pineda is healthy, great. If not... oh boy.

Then there's the little matter of having no regular third baseman once the impending Sword of Damocles suspension breaks its thread and beheads Mr. Rod. That's supposed to happen in the next couple of weeks. A second baseman who can hit and hasn't spent much of the past few seasons on the disabled list wouldn't be an awful thing, either.

We can discuss the bullpen at some later date.

I'm not saying the Yankees shouldn't pursue Tanaka. Of course they should; he's the best available pitcher who won't cost them either Brett Gardner or ANOTHER first-round draft pick. He seems like he'd certainly be reliable, at least for the first few years of his contract. And it's possible he'll be better than projected. There's no reason not to go right after the guy, who will cost only money.

But he's not the answer to all the questions. He's not going to shore up the infield defense, set back the clock on some of the veterans, or figure out how to turn seven outfielders into maybe four or at most five. He's just a pitcher who has never thrown a baseball in America but might be good.

There have been good welcome additions made to the roster so far this offseason. Brian McCann seems like the perfect fit behind the plate. Ellsbury will be a former Red Sox in center field, and will surely run a lot if he's healthy. Too many years, too much money on both contracts? Sure. But it's not--directly--our money and the years will have to work themselves out.

Would Tanaka be a great addition, given the sorry state of the pitching right now? Absolutely. Is he going to get the Yankees back to the World Series all by himself? Hell, no.

I'm just saying, take a breath. It's very possible the Yankees will add Tanaka sometime in the next month. If so, good. If not, probably not the end of the world.