Yankees Win Tanaka Sweepstakes, Odds of Winning World Series Improve
Published on January 23th, 2014 7:42 am ESTEarlier today, the New York Yankees won the Masahiro Tanaka sweepstakes after signing the ace to a 7-year, $155 million deal. In addition, the Yankees must also pay the Rakuten Eagles a one-time fee of $20 million.
There were a number of teams that were reportedly actively involved in the Tanaka sweepstakes, including the LA Dodgers, Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox. In the end, Tanaka chose New York, as he said that the Yankees were the team that wanted him the most.
It's not hard to see why Tanaka was such a highly coveted asset. The 25-year old Tanaka went 24-0 last year with an era of 1.27 with the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Over the course of his seven year professional career in Japan, Tanaka went 99-35.
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The odds of the Yankees winning the World Series improved significantly following the signing of Tanaka.
Prior to today, the Yankees were listed at 20/1 to win the 2014 World Series, behind the likes of the Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox.
However, after the Tanaka signing, the Yankees improved to 12/1 to win the World Series this year. There are now just six teams who are 12/1 or better to win the 2014 World Series. They are:
Los Angeles Dodgers, 8/1
St. Louis Cardinals, 10/1
Detroit Tigers, 10/1
Boston Red Sox, 10/1
Washington Nationals, 12/1
New York Yankees, 12/1
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Here is what the Yankees' starting line-up should look like on opening day this year:
Tanaka
CC Sabathia
Hiroki Kuroda
Ivan Nova
David Phelps
If CC Sabathia can regain his old form, the Yankees could have one of the best one-two starting pitching punches in the league.
Source: World Series 2014 Odds
