Friday, January 17, 2014

Tanaka Not Yet in Pinstripes, System Horribly Broken

Japanese pitching phenom Masahiro Tanaka has yet to sign with the New York Yankees, showing just how broken the current posting system is. Widely considered the Babe Ruth of baseball, Tanaka has been forced to have pointless discussions with the Dodger, Cubs, and White Sox before being allowed to sign with the Bronx Bombers.

Under the old posting system, Tanaka would have been a Yankee by now, but instead he is forced to wait while lesser, unproven players like Clayton Kershaw receive huge paydays.

While it is clear the changes to the posting system have failed everyone involved, MLB is yet to announce any changes. That said, a number of proposals are under consideration, including one in which any player who is to be made available is first sold directly to the Yankees, who may keep the player or trade him. Known as the Levine Rule, this proposal continues to gather steam among players and owners, but MLB brass has been hesitant to implement it, fearing that another change to the posting system so soon after the last one will be widely interpreted as an admission of failure in the international community.

Ban Ki-Moon could not be reached for comment.

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