Here's the latest on the bidding for Masahiro Tanaka.

The Cubs are the "lead team" for Tanaka, a source tells Levine (via Twitter).

are the "lead team" for Tanaka, a source tells Levine (via Twitter). The Cubs have made a "real offer" to Tanaka, tweets 670TheScore.com's Bruce Levine, who also notes that one key factor for Tanaka and his wife will be the presence of a Japanese community in his new city. On Thursday, we heard that the Cubs were "pushing hard" for Tanaka, and Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reported on the "sales pitch" the Cubs made to Tanaka last week.