Nats put a hurting on Tanaka with seven early runs (Nats rout Yankees 13-0)

Nats put a hurting on Tanaka with seven early runs (Nats rout Yankees 13-0)
NATIONALS QUICK WRAP Score: Nationals 13, Yankees 0 Recap: Stephen Strasburg dominated the Yankees' traveling lineup, striking out nine over five scoreless innings and needing only 68 pitches (51 strikes) to do it. It helped that Strasburg's teammates gave him a huge cushion early: They racked up seven runs off Masahiro Tanaka, six of them coming during a third-inning explosion. Stephen Drew and Wilson Ramos each homered during that rally. Anthony Rendon rapped out three hits of his own off...

A couple more pitchers come off the market (Balfour to Rays)

A couple more pitchers come off the market (Balfour to Rays)
You might have wanted the Nationals to make a final offseason splash by signing Japanese free agent starter Masahiro Tanaka. It wasn't going to happen, especially not when Tanaka was getting a seven-year, $155 million offer from the Yankees, an offer that Tanaka accepted yesterday. Tanaka was going to land a monster contract from some team that had a big hole in its rotation, but the Yankees really outdid themselves here, giving Tanaka the second-largest free agent contract ever handed out...

Any Nats action on Tanaka would be a stealth move

Any Nats action on Tanaka would be a stealth move
Since this is a gift-giving time of year, let's stop for a moment to ponder the fate of Masahiro Tanaka, the Japanese pitcher who, as of Dec. 24, will be posted by the Rakuten Golden Eagles and is in line for a huge payday. Think the kind of haul you'd get when Mega Millions doesn't have a winner for two or three months of drawings. Now the 25-year-old right-hander isn't going to be a millionaire immediately; he'll have to wait until major league teams go through the newly designed...