All the Yankees rumors these past couple of weeks which placed the New York Yankees as front runners to land Japanese ace Masahiro Tanaka proved true. The Yankees got their man, signing the former Rakuten Golden Eagle to a 7-year, $155 million deal.
With this signing, the Yankees have committed just under a half-billion dollars this offseason in an attempt to secure their first World Series championship since 2009. The New York Yankees have added $465 million to the books, with $438 million of that going to Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran, and Masahiro Tanaka.
Despite assertions to the contrary, New York Yankees' owner Hal Steinbrenner made the clear decision to exceed the $189 luxury cap threshold in place for the 2014 MLB season. It seems quite clear that Hal is following the footsteps of his father, the late, great Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner, by spending as much as necessary to bring World Series titles back to the Bronx.
It is unknown whether this is the end of the New York Yankees' offseason splurge, but it seems likely that any signing from here on out would be of a more cost-effective variety.