In a move that barely comes as an surprise, yet underscores the current environment of Major League Baseball’s free-agent market, Masahiro Tanaka will return to Japan to throw for the Rakuten Golden Eagles in the Nippon Professional Baseball League.
Rakuten posted Tanaka seven years back, making him accessible to play abroad. He marked a seven-year bargain worth $155 million with the New York Yankees that offseason, and he had been seemingly the most predictable individual from their beginning revolution since. Tanaka was No. 9 in USA TODAY Sports’ free organization rankings heading into the offseason.
Terms of Tanaka’s new arrangement were not promptly uncovered, however the group proclaimed the 32-year-old right-hander’s get back with a “Welcome home our hero” declaration.
“I wanted to make sure and touch base with you, and thank you for all the love and support you have given me for the past 7 seasons,” Tanaka wrote in a message posted on Twitter “to my beloved fans.”
“I feel extremely forutnate for having the opportunity to take the field as a member of the New York Yankees, and play in front of all you passionate fans. it has been an honor and a privilege! Thank you so much!!
Tanaka fought a mostly torn UCL all through his Yankees residency and began 174 games in pinstripes, with a 3.74 ERA and 8.5 K/9 proportion in the standard season. He likewise went 5-4 with a 3.33 ERA in 54 postseason innings.
Behind pro Gerrit Cole, the Yankees presently have a few question marks in their beginning turn, even with the offseason increments of Jameson Taillon and Corey Kluber.