The perceived price tag for highly sought after Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka probably isn’t going to be cheap which certainly weighed in on USA Today baseball writer Bob Nightengale’s guess on how much Tanaka will ultimately cost. According to Nightengale, Tanaka could cost teams at least $17 million per season not including the $20 million dollar posting fee that will have to go to Tanaka’s current team the Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Team officials involved in Tanaka sweepstakes say the Japanese star will cost a minimum of $17 million a year
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 27, 2013
What this essentially means though is the team that does sign him are more than likely going to bay over $20 million dollars per year when you’re talking base salary and breaking down the posting fee over the years. This is assuming that Tanaka gets a deal in the 5-6 year range which I’m assuming he will. That’s quite a commitment.