Future of the Franchise

There are all different ways to predict the future. Because of that, Tanaka will define the future of Milwaukee, whether it's a positive force of winning, or a giant pool of debt, only time will tell.

The Good: Tanaka has a commanding splitter, slider, fastball that sits around 93-mph, sinker, cutter, curve, and only so often a changup. According to one scouting site: "His splitter is a real worm killer that generates an extreme number of groundballs compared to other pitchers' splitters, generates a high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers' splitters, is much firmer than usual and has some natural sink to it."

The Bad: He had a partial tear of the  ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow in 2014. He fought through rehab with platelet-rich-plasma therepy, rest, and strenghtening excercises rather then having Tommy John surgery. And while the rehab has thus far been a success, as of the beginnign of 2015, skeptics will always be nervous. Milwaukee has signed Tanaka through 2018 with a no trade clause at $18M a year. If this thing goes south and his arm falls off, Tanaka could easily become a giant albatross.

(And in this case, Milwaukee will be figuratively killing the albatross by sending Tanaka to Dr. Andrews, who will then string it around the bow of the ship called Milwaukee, thereby bringing nothing but bad luck and heartache.)

Team MVP

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