Throughout the past offseason, so many teams gathered all of the money they could muster in attempt to sign former Japan Nippan star Masahiro Tanaka. Not surprisingly, the New York Yankees signed him as they seem to regularly outbid the competition for the big-name players. The Yankees signed Tanaka to a seven-year, $155 million contract. In addition, the Yankees also paid his former Nippan team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles, a $20-million posting fee. That means that the Yankees spent a total of $175 million for a pitcher who had yet to throw a single pitch in the Major Leagues — not one pitch.
Critics understandably complained that the Yankees overpaid for Tanaka. After all, there is no way that he will even come close to his 2013 record of 24-0, 1.27 ERA, and 0.943 WHIP with the Golden Eagles. This is the Major Leagues, where the best hitters in the world come to play.
No one believes that Tanaka will go undefeated, and most would consider any type of 20-win season a long shot. However, if Tanaka’s performance in April and early May is any indication, then the Yankees may have come out ahead considering that they did not give Robinson Cano the $300+ million he initially wanted to return to the Bronx.
Tanaka so far is 4-0 with a 2.53 ERA , 0.961 WHIP, and 1.5 WAR in six starts as of May 4. He has struck out 51 hitters and walked six in 42.2 innings. He has held opponents to a .217 batting average. He has averaged 7+ innings per start and allowed three runs or fewer in each of them. He has pitched equally effectively both at home and on the road. If he can continue this trend for the entire season, then the Yankees will get a very nice initial dividend on their large investment.
In addition, Tanaka is young: age 25. He has not yet reached his prime. Therefore, his learning to pitch in the Majors now — and especially in that relentless New York media market — will bode extremely well for him and his team when he does reach those prime years before too long.
Obviously, Tanaka will lose some games; he will likely even have some very rough outings. Still, though, he gives the Yankees the extra arm they need to push them back into the postseason after missing out last year with their many injuries. Considering the contracts that pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, and some of the leagues heaviest hitters have also gotten in recent years, the Yankees may very well have gotten a bargain in Masahiro Tanaka.