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On Boxing Day, the pursuit of Masahiro Tanaka finally begins. The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. So for the new capped fee of $20 million, any one of the 30 Major League teams can get in on the bidding and getting a deal done by 5pm on January 24. Tanaka was a spectacular 24-0 this season with a miniscule 1.27 ERA. He is the same age Yu Darvish was when he was posted two years ago and, like Darvish, wants the challenge of pitching in the Majors. The Blue Jays were in on the chase for Darvish, but to what extent we will never really know. There were rumblings at the time that the Blue Jays barely lost out to Texas and their winning bid of $51.7 million. But Alex Anthopoulos and the organization would never confirm or deny that and in the end, it was felt the Rangers were actually bidding against themselves just to be sure they got Darvish. Texas signed him to a six-year, $60 million deal but if certain conditions are met, the sixth year turns into a player option. So far its been a good investment by Texas. Darvish is 29-18 over two seasons with 401 innings, 498 strikeouts and 169 walks. He was added the American League All-Star roster his first year, and only missed last years mid-summer classic due to an injury. Most scouts believe Darvish to be a better pitcher than Tanaka, who projects by many to be a number 2 or 3 starter, rather than a staff ace. When Tanaka won the Sawamura Award as top pitcher in Japan in 2011, over Darvish, he conceded that although he had slightly better numbers than Darvish in a couple of categories, he said "as a pitcher, Im nowhere near his calibre". The Blue Jays self-imposed five-year limit on contracts is one thing working against them, although Anthopoulos conceded a couple of weeks ago that the Jays might go to six years for the right player. The biggest thing going against the Jays is the desperation of some of those big-name teams that figure to be in on the bidding and the marquee presence of others. The Yankees pitching staff needs an infussion of youth and talent. The Dodgers havent won a World Series since 1988 and Texas has never won one. Boston is in that year-by-year battle for bragging rights and now that theyve won three World Series titles this century to the Yankees two, they arent going to let up now. The Blue Jays may make an offer just to say they did, but Id bet on Texas or the Yankees to be Tanakas ultimate landing spot. A couple of trivia points on Darvish. The first Major League hit he surrendered was to his countryman Ichiro Suzuki and the first home run he surrendered was to Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays on April 30, 2012. Darvish still won that game though, 4-1. Another Babe It was on December 26 of 1919 when the most infamous deal in Red Sox history went down. It was the day Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees. This is the story of another player who went by the nickname "Babe". Werner Birrer was a reliever and occassional spot starter for parts of three seasons in the 1950s with the Tigers, Orioles and Dodgers. Hes better known for his years pitching in the International League, in Buffalo, the city where he was born. He ultimately made it into the Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame and was a valued member of the community as a teacher and a coach. Babe Birrer passed away back in November at age 85. He had one day in his career where it all came together and earned him the sobriquet "Babe". On July 19 of 1955, Birrer came on in relief in the sixth inning to try and protect a 5-4 Tigers lead over Baltimore. Not only did he pitch four shutout innings of relief to earn his second of four career saves, Birrer slugged a pair of three-run homers to propel the Tigers to a 12-4 victory over the 0s. What was so special about that? Well, those were the only two home runs and only six runs batted inn of Birrers entire career. As far as anyone knows, he is the only Major League player in history to cram all of his home runs and RBI production into just one game. For that one day, that one game, Werner Birrer was called "Babe" by his teammates for the rest of his career. Oddly enough, the two relievers who surrendered those home runs to Birrer, George Zuverink and Art Shallock, are both still alive and amongst the 100 oldest surviving Major Leaguers. Shallock is 89 and 245 days, Zuverink 89 and 128 days. Just a little known page in the book of Tigers history. (SportsNetwork.com) - A lot of people love heading south this time of year but for the Miami Dolphins, a trip due south in the AFC East standings has been anything but fun. A 3-0 start for the Dolphins is now all but forgotten as Joe Philbins team returns home in an attempt to halt an ugly four-game skid against the AFC North-leading Cincinnati Bengals on Halloween Night. Miami hasnt tasted victory since Sept. 22 just as the Bengals have gotten red-hot, winning four straight to take a 2 1/2-game lead over Baltimore in their division. The Dolphins thought they had solved their problems early on in Foxborough last Sunday but the game turned out to be a tale of two halves, as New England rebounded to completely dominate things after intermission en route to a 27-17 victory over Miami at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots managed a meager 59 yards in the first 30 minutes and trailed by 14, then scored 24 unanswered points -- highlighted by a pair of touchdowns in a span of less than two minutes that tied the game. "We dug a big hole for ourselves at halftime. We really havent played good in the third quarter all year but we did today," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "We got it from all three phases of the game. We had contributions from everyone in the second half." Tom Brady struggled through his worst first half in 10 years and finished with just 116 yards and a touchdown on 13-of-22 passing but New England overcame that to beat Miami for the seventh straight time. Ryan Tannehill threw for 192 yards with a pair of touchdowns and a pair of interceptions for the Dolphins, who are now 2 1/2 games in back of the Pats in the AFC East. A trio of turnovers and two missed Caleb Sturgis field goals -- one that hit an upright and another that was blocked -- in the second half led to disaster for Miami. "They clearly deserved to win the game, they played better than we did," said Philbin. "We didnt play well in the second half. We didnt make stops, we turned the ball over." The Bengals, on the other hand, kept rolling on Sunday thanks to a breakout performance from second-year receiver Marvin Jones. Jones caught a franchise record four touchdown passes in Cincinnatis 49-9 rout of the New York Jets at Paul Brown Stadium. "Hes had the potential since hes been here," QB Andy Dalton said when talking about Jones. "I think hes just comfortable with everything that were doing and everything that were asking him to do." Dalton threw for 325 yards and five scores on 19-of-30 throws in just three quarters. He found Jones eight times for 122 yards, while A.J. Green added 115 yards on just three catches. "We knew we were going to have to take some shots," said Bengals coach Marvin Lewis. The Bengals defense also took back two Geno Smith interceptions for touchdowns. "That was ugly, to say the least," said Jets coach Rex Ryan. "Were fortunate it only counts for one loss because you get your butt kicked like that, youre fortunate thats all it is." Miami leads its overall series with the Bengals by a significant 15-5 margin, with the Dolphins winning the last two contests. The most recent meeting was a 17-13 Miami victory on Oct. 7, 2012 in Paul Brown Stadium. The Dolphins are also a perfect 5-0 when playing on Halloween. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Dalton and the Bengals have been firing on all cylinders recently, piling up 103 points in their last three games. Over that span, the third-year signal caller has thrown for at least 325 yards in each contest and tossed 11 TD passess, becoming the first Bengal ever to throw that many in a three-game stretch.dddddddddddd. "This is where I want to be," said Dalton. "This is how I want to be playing." Its not all about offense with Cincinnati, though. In fact the Bengals defense remains the strength of the team led by All-Pro interior lineman Geno Atkins. Cincys D is currently ranked eighth in the NFL, allowing 322.5 yards per game and its even better in scoring defense, coming in at No. 5 by giving up only 18 points per contest. That shapes up as trouble for Miamis young quarterback Tannehill, who has plenty of talent but remains a very inconsistent player from down to down never mind game to game. Tannehill can wow you with the big play (hes thrown five TD passes over the prior two games) but also make the game-changing mistake (seven of his nine interceptions have come during the Dolphins current skid). He has been particularly ineffective in the guts of a game, amassing an awful 60.9 fourth- quarter passer rating, something that has contributed mightily to the fact that Miami has been outscored 67-24 in the second half of their losing streak. Apologists for Tannehill point to his shaky offensive line, which has allowed the Texas A&M product to be sacked a league-high 32 times. The Dolphins tried to address that issue by trading for veteran left tackle Bryant McKinnie before the New England game and the former Vikings and Ravens starter did prove to be a significant upgrade on short notice. Miami will also get a bit of a break with the absence of Bengals middle linebacker Rey Maualuga, who will not play in Thursdays game after spraining his left knee against the Jets. The fifth-year pro is expected to miss multiple weeks. Cincinnati will also be without a few other defensive contributors. Cornerback Leon Hall (torn Achilles) and safety Taylor Mays (shoulder) were each placed on injured reserve in the last couple of days, while backup tackle Devon Still has also been ruled out due to an elbow injury. Miamis offense will also be hampered by the season-ending knee injury receiver Brandon Gibson suffered against the Patriots and the fact that former left tackle Jonathan Martin reportedly went AWOL this week, something the Dolphins have labeled as an undisclosed illness. Despite all of Miamis problems, however, Lewis is still worried on a short week. "Weve got to be the best team Thursday night, plain and simple," the Cincinnati coach said. "Its us and the Dolphins and, weve got to be the best team. Theres no other challenge. We knew the schedule. Thats the way it is. Theres no ifs, ands or buts about it. You come, be ready to go." Philbin, meanwhile, is staying positive in an effort to get his team back in the win column. "I have a lot of faith in our guys," he said. "I believe in them. I think well get this thing right and fixed. We have to do it quickly; this is a good team coming in here on Thursday night." OVERALL ANALYSIS The Dolphins current four-game hiccup is their worst since a seven-game slide to open the 2011 season while Cincinnati is coming off its most lopsided victory in Lewis 11-year tenure. "Obviously we arent at an all-time high right now," Tannehill said. "But weve got to get back on track. Thats the only option we have with a short week." Its also an unlikely option. These are teams heading in polar opposite directions and expect that to continue on "Thursday Night Football." Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Bengals 27, Dolphins 20 Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
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