We’ve reached the “Masahiro Tanaka’s wife wants to be on the west coast” point of this silliness

We get to this point every offseason. Some big free agent is still out there and we hear that they like the west coast. Or the east coast. Or their wife does. Or they want to be where they grew up. Or they want to be where they can fly home to wherever they call home quicker. Or they like spring in Florida as opposed to Arizona or vice-versa. So it is with Masahiro Tanaka:

Consensus in Japan right now is that Yankees and Dodgers are favorites on Tanaka and word is his wife prefers to be on West Coast.

— David Waldstein (@DavidWaldstein) January 13, 2014

But supposedly his wife has said “it’s a goal, not a mandate.”

— David Waldstein (@DavidWaldstein) January 13, 2014

My wife wanted to be in Ohio when I graduated law school, so to Ohio we went. Nearly sixteen years later I’m still here. And I’m not married anymore. Maybe I shoulda just followed the money?

I bet that’s what Tanaka does.

Astros right fielder George Springer left Friday’s game with yet another injury, this one on a sliding catch attempt in the eighth inning. As Springer converged with Yuli Gurriel and Aledmys Díaz on a high pop-up, he slid into foul territory and appeared to be in moderate discomfort after getting up.

From the replay, it looked as through Springer might have felt some pain in his left hamstring, but the Astros have yet to comment on the exact nature or severity of his injury. After exiting the field, he was promptly replaced by Josh Reddick in the right field corner, while Tony Kemp entered the game to take over in left.

It’s been a rough month for the 29-year-old outfielder, who narrowly avoided a trip to the injured list after missing four games with lower back stiffness earlier this week. Following the Astros’ 4-3 win over the Red Sox, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters he’s “not looking forward to the diagnosis” this time around, and expects to place Springer on the IL until he can work back to full strength.