Vorstellung » the 25-year-old right-hander said

TOKYO -- Masahiro Tanaka says he chose to play for the New York Yankees because they appreciated him the most among the many teams in the majors who were chasing the prized signature of the star Japanese pitcher. "They gave me the highest evaluation and are a world-famous team." Tanaka said at a press conference in Japan on Thursday after agreeing to a $155 million, seven-year deal with the Yankees. Tanaka said he was "relieved" the deal was done and looked forward to standing on the mound at Yankee Stadium. When asked what his goal will be, Tanakas response was direct: "To become World Champions." In addition to the personal deal with Tanaka, the Yankees must pay a $20 million fee to his Japanese team, the Rakuten Eagles. His agreement calls for $22 million in each of the first six seasons and $23 million in 2020, and it allows him to terminate the deal after the 2017 season and become a free agent. Asked to deliver a message to Yankee fans in English, Tanaka said he plans to let his performance on the field do the talking. "I dont speak English so Ill just have to win the trust and confidence of the fans with my performance on the field," the 25-year-old right-hander said. Big league teams had until Friday to reach an agreement with Tanaka, who was 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA last year as the Eagles won the Japan Series title. The Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs and White Sox, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros all said they were among the failed bidders. Tanaka said he consulted with 2013 Rakuten teammate Takashi Saito and Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish about life in the major leagues before deciding on the Yankees. "Everything will be new and challenging," Tanaka said. "But I have to rely on the ability that got me this far." Tanaka was 99-35 with a 2.30 ERA in seven seasons with the Eagles, striking out 1,238 in 1315 innings. Yankees official has tracked him since 2007, scouting 15 of his games. The Tanaka deal caps an off-season in which the Yankees added catcher Brian McCann and outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran. The four big deals totalled $438 million. "Were going to do what weve got to do to win," Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "We had to make sure we had enough pitching to go together with our new lineup." Tanaka receives the highest contract for an international free agent and the fifth largest deal for a pitcher, trailing only those of the Los Angeles Dodgers Clayton Kershaw ($215 million), Detroits Justin Verlander ($180 million), Seattles Felix Hernandez ($175 million) and the Yankees C.C. Sabathia ($161 million under his original agreement with New York). Tanaka replaces the retired Andy Pettitte in the Yankees rotation, and joins Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Ivan Nova. 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It will mark the 22nd time the tournament has been held in this country and fourth in Atlanta Canada but will make its first appearance ever in played Nova Scotia. ANAHEIM, Calif. -- C.J. Wilson isnt too particular about the way he gets his victories. He will take them any way he can get them -- no matter how ugly they are. Wilson surrendered five runs in the second inning after his teammates had scored five in the first, but Mike Trout regained the lead for the Los Angeles Angels in the bottom of the second with a two-run homer, and manager Mike Scioscias much maligned bullpen hung on for an 8-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night. "It was the best luck I had to get that run support and win despite giving up all those runs," Wilson said. "The bullpen had their backs up against the wall. I didnt really give them that much to work with. They had to throw four scoreless innings and they came through." Wilson (8-6) barely navigated through five innings and left with the lead after allowing six runs and nine hits, including back-to-back home runs for the second time in his last three starts. The left-hander, who came in 5-0 with a 1.58 ERA in his previous six outings at Angel Stadium, blew a 5-0 lead in the second before Trout hit his 17th homer in the bottom half. "It was an interesting approach that their team had today. They took a lot of pitches -- first-pitch strikes down the middle -- and then with two strikes they would fight the pitches off," Wilson said. "I dont know how many first-pitch strikes I threw. It felt like a ton. All the hits were deep in the count, so it was kind of a Twilight-Zone type of thing. "After the two home runs, it was like paper cuts to death. Obviously, Willingham and Morales hit the ball really hard, but a lot of the other hits were in-between guys or under the coverage," Wilson added. Trouts homer was Los Angeles last hit until David Freeses one-out single in the sixth. The Twins got a run closer in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by former Angels slugger Kendrys Morales, but Joe Smith got three outs for his sixth save to help extend the Angels four-game winning streak and snap a season-best four-game streak by the Twins. Kyle Gibson (6-6) threw 50 pitches over two innings in his 25th career start, equaling his shortest outing in the big leagues. The 26-year-old right-hander gave up seven runs, four hits and two walks, after coming in with a streak of 22 consecutive scoreless innings. "I juust didnt really have a good feel out there from pitch one in the bullpen," Gibson said.dddddddddddd "It felt like I was searching the whole time. It was just one of those weird nights. I didnt feel like I was repeating my delivery. It was pretty clear that I wasnt very sharp. I was leaving sliders over the middle, sinkers up -- I mean, it was a confusing, frustrating night overall." The right-hander found himself in a bases-loaded, no-out jam after 16 pitches and failed to retire any of his first six batters -- although Albert Pujols reached on a fielders choice when shortstop Danny Santana fielded his grounder deep in the hole and Trout beat the rookies throw to second. By the time the inning ended, Los Angeles had pushed across five runs. Josh Hamilton and Howie Kendrick both came up with the bases loaded and hit two-run singles. Erick Aybar, who was hit by a pitch, scored the fifth run on a double-play grounder by C.J. Cron. But Minnesota needed only one inning to erase the deficit. Josh Willingham, who has eight homers in his last 15 games against the Angels, drove an 0-2 pitch to centre field that barely eluded Trouts glove -- which was about 3 feet above the fence. Morales followed with first homer in a Twins uniform, sending a 3-2 pitch into the lower seats in the left field corner. No. 9 hitter Sam Fuld kept the rally alive with a two-out RBI single, Santana drove in another run with a double and Brian Dozier tied it with an RBI single. NOTES: Angels hitting coach Don Baylor was in the dugout during a game for the first time since breaking his right leg while catching a ceremonial first pitch from Vladimir Guerrero on opening night. ... Gibson lasted just two innings on May 10 at Detroit, allowing six runs in a 9-3 loss. ... Joe Mauer, who won three AL batting titles as a catcher and the MVP award in 2009, is hitting .260 in his first season as a full-time first baseman. Only two of his 22 RBIs have come on the road. ... Mauer and C Kurt Suzuki each entered the game 2 for 22 against Wilson. Mauer was 1 for 3 this time against the two-time All-Star and Suzuki was 0 for 3. ... LHP Tyler Skaggs, who hasnt pitched for the Angels since June 5 because of a right hamstring strain, is scheduled to make a rehab start for Triple-A Salt Lake on Thursday in Fresno. 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