So is it $20 million just to bid, or does the winning bidder (and only that bidder) get a $20 million surcharge?
The latter.
Buster Olney: "Astros should be all in on Tanaka"Can anyone with insider out there provide a snip-it of the key Astros part?http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/buster-olney/post/_/id/4326
How's the sushi scene doing in Houston?
suggestions . we will be in town bout fan fest time
Excellent sushi.
And a burgeoning ramen scene.
Now THIS is something I need to look into. Have you been to that place downtown? Sure you have. How is it?
I have not, but apparently Goro and Gun's ramen is not up to snuff but the rest of the menu is spectacular.
Making decent ramen is not all that hard but it requires effort and time. I thought those guys were serious about what they're doing but apparently not. That's too bad.
Don't have Insider (who does anymore?), but I'm guessing the gist of it could be paraphrased as: "The Astros made me mad last year, because they didn't spend a bunch of money, and so I think if they don't spend eleventy-billion dollars to sign Tanaka, it means that they are still a shame and a disgrace to the game of baseball and the legacy of Abner Doubleday... Just to clarify, by "all in" I mean they should hand Tanaka's agent a blank check, and the deed to Jim Crane's house, and grovel on the floor in front of him, telling him 'pleasepleaseplease choose us, pleasepleasepleasesir.' However, I think it will also be unfair to the Yankees and the Red Sox if the Astros sign Tanaka, so I will still be mad about that."
Is Tanaka intent on playing with a longtime friend? Will he gravitate toward the highest offer? Does he have a secret dream to play for the Dodgers, or the Yankees? It’s unclear, maybe even to Casey Close, the agent recently chosen to represent Tanaka. We don’t yet know how much Tanaka will drive this negotiation, or whether he’s open to all ideas. If Tanaka isn’t focused on a narrow range of options -- only West Coast teams, for example, or merely reaching for the best dollar offer -- there is a courtship that should take place, because it makes so much sense for the team. If the Houston Astros would be willing to pay Tanaka the kind of money he will get in the bidding, he would be absolutely perfect for them as a major piece of their development into a contender. Start with this: The Astros have what is essentially a blank canvas in financial obligations. Beyond the contracts agreed to with their draft picks, Houston has a total of $34 million in deals beyond the 2014 season, with $20 million of that allotted for Scott Feldman. Right now, the Astros could be the working definition of payroll flexibility, even at a time when they are still mired in a legal fight over their local television deal. Even if they failed to draw a single customer to a ballgame in 2014 -- and it hasn’t gotten that bad, even after Houston had its third consecutive season of 106 or more losses last summer -- the Astros could easily cover a costly player, like Tanaka, with the money they make through Major League Baseball. Tanaka would be marketable for the franchise in the short term, and at the same time he’s an absolutely perfect fit within their long-term rebuilding plan, as the leader of a young and dynamic pitching staff. The signing of Feldman surprised some rival executives because he turns 31 in February, and by the time the talent the Astros have been hoarding begins to manifest in the big leagues -- players like former No. 1 picks Mark Appel and Carlos Correa -- Feldman’s productivity may well be in decline. Tanaka, on the other hand, is just 25 years old, and the Astros could try to sell him on the idea of being the leader of a building power, just as Iwakuma was at Rakuten years ago. He could be the anchor of a pitching staff, in years to come, of a group capable of dominance, with Appel and, presumably, Carlos Rodon, who is widely expected to be the first player chosen in the June draft, by the Astros. Tanaka will be 27 or 28 years old as Appel and Rodon reach the majors, and by the time the likes of Appel and Rodon accumulate service time and start to get expensive, through arbitration, Tanaka will be at the back end of his contract. To repeat: We really don’t know what Tanaka wants. It’s possible he would dismiss the Astros, the worst team in the majors, as potential suitors. He might want to rejoin Iwakuma, or play in New York, or become part of one of the greatest rotations in recent memory by signing with the Dodgers. Undoubtedly, the Astros would have to overpay and crush all other bidders to land Tanaka, in the same manner that the Yankees did with Sabathia. But it would be worth it to give the Astros a jump-start while also continuing the reconstruction plans designed to build a winner for years to come.
If this is all an elaborate ploy to get me to complain then you win.
There are some new places opening up, like Tiger Den and Ramen Jin that are getting good write-ups. The "sushi" places like Kata Robata and Soma can turn out a fine bowl of ramen as well.
If this is all an elaborate ploy to get me to complain then you win. I've been to all the celebrated sushi places in Houston and they are all terrible. Not terrible as in they fail to meet my impossibly high standards (they do) but terrible as in terrible.It is amazing to me that in a city with so many excellent dining options of such variety and quality no one has managed to open a sushi restaurant that is not terrible.
It really doesn't need to be all that elaborate.
Can't trip in this city without plunging headfirst into a delicious bowl
A Hudson style fuck you and another one to Matt, too, couple of noodle slurpers.
Some good ones have cropped up in Brooklyn, too.
We have better pho, which is better.
Don't even get me started on the sushi...
You think I don't know?
Come visit
I will. I thought I was going to make it up in November but that didn't happen.
Weather is lovely right now
We have ridiculously good ramen in supermarket food courts. I live close to Little Saigon in Westminster but Houston does have a leg up on Vietnamese food. There's a broader range it seems in my native city than here. Its close though. Korean food? Not even close, Houston.
The Korean food scene is burgeoning as well. I hear very good things about Nara, and there are more and more mom and pop Korean restaurants around town than there were five years ago.
Oh that's very good news for you guys! Is it all KBBQ right now or other stuff too?
Some other stuff too, but plenty of bulgogi. It seems the food truck scene is embracing korean-fusion street food which is popularizing the taste. I can think of three trucks off hand that serve Korean flavor influenced tacos and sandwiches.
I'm surprised you think that Korean food is better in Houston since LA has, you know, Korea TOWN which is enormous and has countless hundreds of restaurants.
Bon ga was highly enjoyable the couple times I've eaten there, but my comparable universe is not very broad. Bonus points for offering bottle service at a strip mall restaurant on long point.
I interpreted his statement as saying that Houston wasn't close to approaching LA when it comes to Korean food.
The Little Saigon is Westminster seems to have a couple of places that are region-specific or that specialize in something sort of offbeat but in general, yes, Bellaire Blvd has much, much more. I'm surprised you think that Korean food is better in Houston since LA has, you know, Korea TOWN which is enormous and has countless hundreds of restaurants. It also has one of my favorite bars, a place called Toe Bang. I guess the delicate joys connoted by the name get blurred a bit in translation but I really like that place.
Rival exec pursuing Tanaka believes #Astros met with him, but is unsure if they made formal offer or not.
Astros owner Jim Crane confirms team's interest in Tanaka.
That being said, I would think Astros are longshot, but being part of that process can only help in future
ESPN reporting Tanaka to Yankees: 7 years, $155 million.
Wow. Plus the posting fee, right?
Rosenthal tweeting that the Astros were among the final bidders for Tanaka.
Does anyone know how Tanaka projects compared to Darvish in terms of upside?
Accordiing to Casey McGehee, who played in Japan and who saw him pitch, Tanaka might not have the wide repertoire that Darvish possesses but that he's a quality arm, and even Bobby Valentine, who managed over there for several seasons, said that Tanaka had perhaps the best split finger fastball that he'd ever seen. It'll be interesting to see how his hand adapts to the slightly bigger MLB ball. That pitch requires a very good feel for the ball.
The Janapense have smaller balls?
Mark Berman @MarkBermanFox26 28m Astros pitch to Masahiro Tanaka included more than $100 million and Roger Clemens. http://tinyurl.com/ml3ffdj
And we still couldn't sign him!
