Although Major League Baseball tried to level the playing field when it comes to bidding for Japanese players, the lure of playing for a big market team will always give teams like the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers a significant advantage.
According to a report courtesy Yahoo! Sports, the Yankees, Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are the teams left standing in the Masahiro Tanaka bidding war.
According to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times, who translated the report on Twitter, Masahiro Tanaka has narrowed his list down to three potential suitors: New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels.
Hernandez says the report adds the Yankees are considered the favorites to sign Tanaka, which wouldn’t be a huge surprise if true, but he also cautions what we’re learning should be taken with a grain of salt.