When the word finally came out that Japanese star pitcher Masahiro Tanaka was being posted, I was convinced he would sign with the Texas Rangers or New York Yankees, with the LA Dodgers and Boston Red Sox being outside possibilities. Now if I had to make a wager, Id say the Seattle Mariners or Arizona Diamondbacks. Over the weekend, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports suggested the Diamondbacks might be willing to trade their former closer J.J. Putz to the Yankees for Ichiro Suzuki. Why, I wondered, would the Dbacks want a 40-year-old future Hall of Famer in the twilight of a great career? Then it hit me! What better way to convince Tanaka to sign with them than to offer him the chance to play with the greatest Japanese player of all time. But if its not just the money, Seattle is probably an even better choice for Tanaka. The Mariners have already shown a willingness to spend by luring free agent Robinson Cano away from the bright lights of New York and they already employ one of Tanakas best friends in baseball. Hisashi Iwakuma has quietly emerged as a star in Seattle the last two seasons. I say quietly because hell always be pitching in the shadow of "King Felix" Hernandez. In two years, though, hes put together a 23-11 record with a 2.84 ERA and 286 strikeouts. He made the American League all-star team last season but couldnt pitch in the mid-summer classic since he had made a start for Seattle on the Sunday, just before the Tuesday night game. He also finished third in Cy Young voting in the American League behind the Tigers Max Scherzer and the Rangers Yu Darvish. Tanaka and Iwakuma were teammates with the Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan from 2007 through 2011 and are reportedly good friends. Though Iwakuma put together a 107-69 record with a 2.75 ERA in Japan, he went through his share of adversities. In 2006, pitching motion rules were put into effect that forced Iwakuma to alter his delivery. In past, Japanese hurlers had been allowed to momentarily stop in mid-delivery before throwing to the plate. This was designed to throw off a hitters timing but now would simply be ruled a balk. Iwakuma changed, but altering his delivery led to shoulder problems and then elbow surgery that would cost him the bulk of two seasons. Iwakuma bounced back, though, and won the ERA title in 2008 as well as the Eiji Sawamura Award; the Major League equivalent of the Cy Young. Even Iwakumas move to the Majors didnt go smoothly. Oakland won the bidding rights for him prior to the 2011 season. The sides couldnt come to terms on a contract, though, and Iwakuma wound up spending one more year in Japan before finally earning free agency at age 30 and signing with Seattle. Iwakuma will be 33 years old in April and would seem to be the perfect one to show Tanaka the ropes in the Majors. The only complication might be Iwakumas contract. He will be make $6.5 million with the Ms in 2014 and has a club option for $7 million in 2015. Tanaka could get close to twice that amount per season. That could be difficult for the Mariners to rationalize and explain to Iwakuma, whos already given them two very good seasons. Still, Ive got a feeling Seattle will find a way to get this done. The Tanaka negotiations must be completed by January 24 at 5:00 PM. Darvish took until the day before this deadline to sign with Texas. With spring training rapidly approaching, I can see this one getting done in the next week to ten days. Once Tanaka has a new home, it will only serve to intensify the bidding for free agents Ubaldo Jimenez, Ervin Santana, Matt Garza and maybe even Bronson Arroyo. The Class of 2014 inductees for the Baseball Hall of Fame will be announced on Wednesday at 2:00 PM. Im sticking with the same three selections I talked about months ago; Braves pitching legends Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine and White Sox two-time MVP, Frank Thomas. I counted at least 10 other worthy Hall of Famers on this ballot, but thanks to PEDs and the sheer back-log of quality candidates, Im convinced only the aforementioned three will get in. As for Jack Morris, whos on the ballot for the 15th and final time, I dont care what his career ERA was; any man who was the staff ace on three World Series winners (84 Tigers, 91 Twins, 92 Blue Jays) belongs in the Hall of Fame - end of story. Check out Morriss numbers in 1992 with the Blue Jays at age 37. 240.2 innings pitched, 21-6 record, 4.04 ERA, six complete games and one shutout. Remember, the Blue Jays had Tom Henke and Duane Ward as the 1-2 punch in the pen. The onus wasnt on Morris to pitch that many innings or that many complete games. He just did, he was that good. Abdel Nader Jersey . Niese pitched seven steady innings on a rainy Tuesday night and Daniel Murphy had three hits to lead New York to a 6-1 victory over the Phillies. Terrance Ferguson Jersey . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. https://www.thunderrookiesshop.com/Devon...Edition-Jersey/. -- Conner Bleackley got it done in regulation time and in the shootout. Hamidou Diallo Thunder Jersey .ca. Mr. Fraser, It looks like Martin Brodeur is coming back to play for the Blues. I was wondering if you have any great stories or fond memories of your time on the ice with Brodeur - in the NHL, or maybe even the Olympics. Mike Muscala Jersey . The defeat leaves the 41-year-old Nestor to concentrate on the mixed-doubles event after winning 12 straight matches and winning Australian titles in Brisbane and Sydney with two different partners. "This was a little bit of a let down, but all credit to them," said Nestor.GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Minnesota Wild were reeling. The Phoenix Coyotes were rolling. Then the teams met Saturday night and everything turned around. Zach Parise scored two of Minnesotas three third-period goals and the Wild rallied to beat the Coyotes 3-1 on Saturday night in a game with important playoff implications. "We need to use this as a game we can kind of springboard something off of," Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said. "Weve had enough games where there have been some bad feelings afterward. Lets use this as one that hopefully we can build something off of." Phoenix nursed a 1-0 lead through two periods on Mikkel Boedkers early power-play goal, but the Coyotes went 24 minutes, 28 seconds without a shot. After giving up five goals in each of its previous two games, Minnesotas defence was outstanding with Ilya Bryzgalov in net. Parise tied it from the top of the circle off a faceoff 8:03 into the final period, and then came Jared Spurgeons slap shot from the top of the right circle with 7:03 to play. Parise added an empty-net goal in the final minute. The Coyotes would have moved ahead of Minnesota into seventh with a victory." "We cant let them come out in the third and let them score two and an empty-net goal," Boedker said. "Thats not how we do it around here, and obviously this was a good opportunity for us to jump up to seventh, but thats the way it goes." The Wild pulled three points ahead of Phoenix for the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference. The Coyotes are just a point ahead of Dallas for the No. 8 spot. The Stars won at St. Louis 4-2 Saturday. "Its going to be like that," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. "It is why you cant get too high right now and you cant get too low. ... Its like a playoff series. You forget the one you just played and move on whether you won or lost." Minnesotas win also clinched a playoff berth for the Chicago Blackhhawks, the defending Stanley Cup champions.dddddddddddd The Wild won for only the second time in six games and fourth time in 12 games. Phoenix, just back from a three-game trip east, lost for just the third time in eight games. Bryzgalov, 3-0-2 as a starter since being acquired by the Wild in a trade deadline deal from Edmonton, had 21 saves for Minnesota. "A lot of this goes to Bryz. Its 1-0 and he makes and unbelievable glove save in the second period and keeps it at 1-0," Yeo said. "Thats an important one." Thomas Greiss had 27 for Phoenix, without their usual goalie Mike Smith due to injury. Just 2:28 into the game, Minnesota was penalized for too many men on the ice. Forty-eight seconds later, Shane Doans close-range shot deflected off Boedkers leg into the net, the power-play goal giving Phoenix a quick 1-0 lead. It was Boedkers team-high eighth first-period goal of the season and his 19th overall. Each team also killed a penalty in the second period. The Coyotes didnt get a shot from the time Doan missed with 7:49 to play in the second period until Radim Vrbadas with 1:56 left in the game. Minnesota finally tied it off a face off on a shot by Parise from the top of the circle and it was 1-1 with 11:57 to play. It was a set play, Parise said. "Weve tried that before," he said. "Its just never worked." Spurgeons powerful slap shot sailed past Greiss high into the net to put the Wild ahead. Doan disputed stats on the long span without a Phoenix shot, blaming it on the scorer. "It wasnt that long between shots," Doan said. "The guy just doesnt keep track very well." The Wild had three penalty kills after the Coyotes power play goal. Notes: The Wild won the season series 2-1 and would have the tiebreaker. ... The Coyotes are 13-5-0 when Boedker scores a goal. ... Minnesota didnt have a power play until there was 5:17 left in the second period. ' ' '