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I can't say I have a fantastic view of Tanaka (he's out of my TV area... only see highlights), but some differences include...
- Tanaka throws on 5~6 days rest, which is also why his GS is lower than Price.
- Tanaka's bullpen is going to be a heck of a lot more pitches than Price's ever would be.
- Tanaka doesn't have Darvish's dad, who is known to have been protective of Darvish's physical routines (father was also a soccer player).
- Overall 'soft' offense in the NPB... Most HR in the Pacific League was 31, only 6 slugged more than .500, 12 with on base above .375.
Matsuzaka had very few red flags coming across, but those he had were similar to Tanaka such as a recent injury shortened season (I think both were shoulder fatigue related). At the same time, Darvish & Matsuzaka pitched against a much tougher league at the time.
Yet with all this, I'm more or less okay with getting Tanaka. But I'm more worried that he will be severely inflated in price due to his inflated stats.
If the M's are in a "fire everything!" sort of mood to get a team going, by all means use all the money. But if the M's are going to be all hoardy with their cash, then Tanaka is probably not the guy you want to throw everything at (not that there are many good options, however).