Yankees reach out to Tanaka’s agent, but no offer yet

The race has begun in the Masahiro Tanaka sweepstakes — with the Yankees among several teams who have been in touch with the Japanese ace righthander’s agent, Casey Close — but the Bombers are not expected to make an offer until next week at the earliest, the Daily News has learned.

But when the Yankees do dive into the bidding war for the 25-year-old Tanaka, they will “make a very strong offer,” according to one source, in an effort to bolster a pinstriped rotation that still has some gaping holes for 2014.

CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Ivan Nova occupy the first three spots for now, but adding Tanaka could change the Bombers’ pitching dynamic dramatically. Tanaka comprised a gaudy 24-0 record last season with the Pacific League’s Rakuten Golden Eagles, who were the Japan Series champions.

Tanaka is not likely to come cheap, however. An ESPN report said that Close, Derek Jeter’s longtime agent, will be seeking, at the minimum, a five-year deal in the $100 million range. That was the same amount of years on the ill-fated Kei Igawa deal the Yankees signed in 2006, although the Bombers gave Igawa $20 million over that span, five times less than what Tanaka is expected to rake in.

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Although many big-market teams such as the Red Sox, Dodgers and Cubs are expected to make a run at Tanaka, the Mariners “are going to be a factor,” according to one baseball official. Fresh off their signing of ex-Yankee Robinson Cano, the M’s may not be done reloading for 2014. Pairing Tanaka with Felix Hernandez would make — on paper at least — a formidable one-two pitching punch for the playoff-starved Mariners, who last went to the postseason in 2001.

Whichever MLB team ends up signing Tanaka will have to pay Rakuten a $20 million posting fee. The period to negotiate for Tanaka’s rights ends Jan. 24, which means plenty of post-Christmas shopping days left on the time clock.

If Tanaka eventually signs with a club in the majors, the bigger question will be how the righthander — who had a sterling 1.27 ERA this past year — will fare in a different baseball culture.

Bobby Valentine saw a young Tanaka first starting out when Valentine managed the Chiba Lotte Marines, one of Rakuten’s league rivals. Valentine said that the entire time he was managing in Japan, “I maybe had one or two players ask me about playing in the majors.

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“There’s very little discussion about that,” the ex-Mets skipper said when asked if playing in the majors is the ultimate dream for Japanese professional baseball players. “I don’t think many dream about playing here.”

That said, Valentine thinks Tanaka has the talent and personality to compete overseas.

“That split-finger fastball he has — well, he certainly demonstrated that many people had trouble making contact last year,” Valentine said. “He’s as good a pitcher available as there is. At a young age, he was on the front page of the papers and he did postgame interviews and seemed to be able to handle all that very well, very early.

“It really comes down to their ability to adapt and stay healthy.”