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If you DON'T think Tanaka is a prospect, DON'T click on this thread.

Again, if you don't view him as a prospect, I get it. It's a fair point of view, but this thread probably isn't for you, so let us "minorities" conduct our own business in peace without trying to burn the house down out of spite.

This post is for the sole purpose of discussing how Masahiro Tanaka measures up against the rest of the players in professional baseball who have not yet reached their 130 AB / 50 IP threshold. It has nothing to do with the "community" list here. NOTHING. It's a merely a chance for those of us who view him as a prospect to compare and contrast him to players like Buxton, Baez, Bradley, etc. and where he places in our personal views. In the past, this type of discussion has been very helpful for me personally when it comes to fantasy league drafting. It's a shame that was stifled this year, as previous years have had some very good, intelligent dialog about guys like Darvish, Matsuzaka, etc. regardless of "is he / isn't he" a prospect.

For me, Tanaka is #1, edging out Baez and Correa. Again, I don't believe any team would give any other prospect the money Tanaka got if there were in the open market. Mike Trout is a two time All-Star and just got $140M. No way Buxton et al would top that IMO. Sure, there are others that posses higher ceilings, but Tanaka's upside/floor combo is obviously viewed as second to none by the Yanks and a few other teams that had similar bids. Tanaka has been tested against some line-ups that blow the AA and AAA competition in the states out of the water.

So... what do others think? Is he Irabu 2.0 or is he going to be more Darvish-ish? How will he stack up in 3-5 years vs. Buxton/Baez/Bradley or any other top prospect?

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