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Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles re-sign veteran right-hander Masahiro Tanaka According to the Japan Times and several other media outlets, the deal is worth 475 million yen (about $3.6 million) for a year. Following an MLB stint with the Yankees from 2014-2020, this will be Tanaka’s third season returning to Nippon Professional Baseball with the Golden Eagles.
Tanaka, now in his 34th season, emerged as an 18-year-old with the Golden Eagles in 2007 and established himself as arguably the NPB’s best pitcher in his first seven seasons in Japan. That success naturally made Tanaka a hot commodity when he chose to seek a move to the big leagues, as his Eagles posted him right-handed prior to his 2014 season.
The Yankees acquired Tanaka on a seven-year, $155 million deal (plus a $20 million posting fee to the Eagles), and he pretty much lived up to the hype, posting a solid 3.74 ERA, 23.1% strikeout percentage, and just 4.8. recorded %. In the majors he has a 1054 1/3 regular season walk rate over an inning, and in the postseason he has a 3.33 ERA over 54 frames. Somewhat notably, Tanaka’s discomfort never grew to the point that he needed Tommy John surgery, so after the discovery of a partial tear in his right UCL midway through the 2014 season, he was forced out of that production. Most of it has been done.
Coming into free agency in the 2020-21 offseason, Tanaka’s first choice was to re-sign with New York, but the Yankees’ main order of business that winter was to drop below the tax threshold to reduce the luxury tax. was to reset penalties for the Yankees Corey Kluber Agreeing to a one-year, $11 million deal that essentially closed the door to Tanaka’s reunion, the Right has since opted to return to his home country rather than explore other options in North America. Last winter, he signed a two-year deal with the Golden Eagles with an opt-out clause, but Tanaka chose to keep his deal, presumably due to the lockout that ate up most of the MLB offseason.
This latest deal represents a significant salary cut from Tanaka’s previous deals, as Tanaka reportedly earned ¥900 million in both 2021 and 2022. Tanaka has not been his ace-level self since his first stint in NPB, but he had a 3.16 ERA. In his past two seasons he has scored over 318 2/3 innings and his strikeouts have declined, but he has maintained his elite control. Despite these figures, Tanaka was most focused on a record of 13 wins and 21 losses.Four wins (in 2021) and nine wins (in 2022) have fallen far behind the high expectations that the club had of me, and have disappointed the fans.Two years really flew by”
Tanaka’s fairly candid self-assessment implies he sees the 2023 NPB season as an unfinished business, and there has been no public talk about a possible return to the majors this offseason. Despite his lack of wins, Tanaka seems to be pitching so well that MLB teams might have been interested. Not sure if, and if so, anywhere but the Bronx.The Yankees already had considerable depth in their rotation options before signing Carlos Rodon to a six-year, $162 million deal.
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