CBS Sports: Yankees' tax strategy probably ends the Tanaka era

CBS Sports offers an interesting take on the Yankees' moves this week, and what terrifying demons they foretell. It's not a Lovecraft horror. Nor is it Jane Austen. The gut-punch: 

It suggests the end of Masahiro Tanaka as a Yankee.

Right now, the team's $204 payroll falls about $6 million shy of the dreaded, almighty Satanic, supremely evil, luxury tax threshold. Once they burst through it, they'll pay 20 cents on the dollar on the overage.  (Which isn't that much, actually: Going over by $10 million would cost them $2 million - that's two Colter Beans and a Zolio Almonte.)  But the surtaxes mount. If they exceed the threshold by $20 million, the fines rise another 12 percent, and then spike at $40 million. Forget about it. As Meat Loaf once sang, he'll do anything for love, but he won't do that. (A Yankee fan, by the way.)

Theoretically, they can go $25 million over the threshold and avoid the big surtax hits. Accounting for in-season acquisitions, CBS estimates the Yanks still have $15 million to spend this winter.

Which brings us to the gut-punch...

What the Yankees can't do -- not without punching their ticket to the surtax zone -- is bring back veteran right-hander Masahiro Tanaka for a wage similar to what he has made throughout his MLB career ($20-plus million).

Insert sigh here.

CBS suggests Brian Cashman will root around for a middling starter, a bullpen lug nut and a lefty bat, (Brett Gardner?) He might trade either Clint Frazier or Miguel Andujar, which seem a redundancy, until the Bermuda Triangle - Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton - goes down with tweaked gonads. 

The Yankees have a ton of high-priced talent and big bills. (Let's give Hal Steinbrenner his due; he's signing the checks.) But the current roster is as lopsided as its lineup (whose lone LH bat is the switch-hitting Hicks, with a career .229 average from the left side.)  

For whatever it's worth, I want Tanaka to return. He's a great competitor, a tireless soul, and it would be nice to claim a Japanese star as a lifelong Yankee. (Godzilla ended up in Anaheim, Oakland and Tampa.) But - (hangs head, looks down) - he's not worth $20 million a year. 

Does he not see this? Is there no chance for compromise? Where is Henry Clay?