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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. Discount Jordan Shoes . -- Omar Infante walked past the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, where he dressed so many times as a member of the Detroit Tigers, and slipped on a crisp, new Kansas City Royals jersey. Air Jordan Store On Sale .Y. -- It was as if Matt Moulson never left the New York Islanders. http://www.airjordanoutlet.us/. 1. CAVALIERS: At 19-20, theyre a mess. Watched the game Tuesday night vs. Phoenix and their defence was poor (107 points and 52 per cent for Suns). Where is the high level play from Kyrie Irving and LeBron James (13 turnovers!)? Kevin Love looks like a man thats wondering what he got himself into. Cheap Jordans .com) - The New York Jets have named Mike Maccagnan their new general manager. Jordan Outlet Chicago .com) - John Wall had 15 points, 12 assists and four steals as the Washington Wizards defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 92-85 on Monday night.DENVER -- Minnesota built up a big advantage at the free throw line throughout the game, and it was just enough to hold off Denvers furious rally. Kevin Love scored 33 points and tied a season high with 19 rebounds for his NBA-best 50th double-double this season, and the Timberwolves withstood Denvers 45-point fourth quarter to beat the skidding Nuggets 132-128 on Monday night for their third win in a row. Kevin Martin added 22 points for the Timberwolves, including four clutch free throws in the final 11.7 seconds. Martin made 16 of 17 foul shots, helping Minnesota rack up NBA season highs in attempts (64) and makes (52) from the line. Denver, meanwhile, went 16 of 25 (64 per cent). "Sixty-four free throws is a lot of free throws," Love said. "It was unbelievable. There were a lot of things that went on in that game that were just nuts, particularly the free throw situation and the 3-pointers at the end. K-Mart made some great plays, hit some big free throws, and that ultimately gave us separation." Love did his part as well, topping 30 points for the 11th time in his last 14 starts, including 11 of 13 from the free throw line to help Minnesota wrap up a 4-1 trip out west. "Thats major," Martin said of Minnesotas successful road swing. "Tonight was a must-win for us. You dont have too many must-wins in the beginning of March, but we understand where were at right now and guys had the mindset that we had to do anything we had to do to get the win." The Nuggets got a huge boost from the return of Ty Lawson, who scored a season-high 31 points with 11 assists in his first game since breaking a rib Feb. 8 at Detroit. But it wasnt enough to reverse their sagging fortunes. Denver lost its sixth straight and has dropped 11 of 12 overall. "You give a team 52 points at the free throw line and another 54 points in the paint, it is going to be tough to beat them," Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said. Trailing by 22 after a layup by Nikola Pekovic midway through the third quarter, the Nuggets responded with a 13-2 run that Randy Foye finished with a 3-pointer to pull to 85-74 with 4:10 remmaining in the period.dddddddddddd Minnesota, though, got its transition game going, getting successive breakaway baskets by Corey Brewer and a driving dunk from Dante Cunningham to take a 98-83 lead into the fourth. Just 3 minutes later, the Timberwolves were in front by 20 on a 20-foot jumper by Shabazz Muhammad. Denver made another push, pulling to 117-107 on Aaron Brooks 3-pointer with 3:25 left and then cutting it to 128-125 on Wilson Chandlers 3 with 12.6 seconds left. After Martin was fouled and made a pair of free throws, Evan Fournier hit another 3 with 7.2 seconds remaining to bring Denver to 130-128. Martin was fouled and again made both free throws, securing the win for the Timberwolves after Chandlers 3-point try in the final seconds hit the rim and bounced away -- though Minnesota was outscored 45-34 in the final period. "They were making everything, banking stuff in," Brewer said. "But its all about getting the win. Nights like that, you have to hold on. "For us to go 4-1 on the road trip means a lot. Now we get to go home, four games at home, and we need all four games at home." The Timberwolves outscored the Nuggets 40-25 in the first quarter and led 66-49 at halftime. Chandler had a pair of baskets, cutting Minnesotas lead to 58-47, but the Timberwolves scored eight of 10 points in the last 2:18 of the second to rebuild their lead. "We gave up too many points in the first quarter," Lawson said. "When youre playing uphill like that, its tough to come back and actually get the win. We got it down to two, but they just hit their free throws at the end." NOTES: Timberwolves C Ronny Turiaf missed his fifth game because of a bone bruise on his right knee. ... Minnesota improved to 27-14 when scoring more than 100 points. ... Denver lost to Minnesota at the Pepsi Center for just the fourth time in 18 games since the start of the 2005-06 season. ... Love has scored 30 or more points a team-record 21 times this season. ... Minnesotas point total represented a season high. ... Lawsons previous season high was 29 points against Oklahoma City on Nov. 18. ' ' '