Tag: Masahiro Tanaka

5 Key Takeaways from Masahiro Tanaka’s Yankees Press Conference

Masahiro Tanaka is officially a member of the New York Yankees organization.

When the team welcomed him to America with a press conference at Yankee Stadium, the brightest pitching star from Japan entered Major League Baseball. Within a few days, fans and media members will garner a live view of his pitches and ability.

For now, we have his personality and demeanor to dissect.

After shelling out $175 million for Tanaka, including the posting fee to his Japanese team, the Yankees are counting on him to lead their rotation for a long time. If his first press conference was any indication, the franchise just landed a star.

Here are the key takeaways from Masahiro Tanaka’s first Yankees press conference.

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Report: Masahiro Tanaka Dropped $195K on Private Flight from Tokyo to New York

Suppose you just inked a giant major league contract. What’s the first big purchase you would make?

For Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, it was a ridiculously expensive charter flight from Tokyo to New York City. According to Anthony McCarron of the New York Daily News, the newest addition to the Yankees‘ roster arrived in New York on Tuesday after a long international flight aboard a very empty jumbo jet.

Indeed, Tanaka allegedly dropped $195,000 to secure private transportation aboard a Boeing 787 Dreamliner operated by Japan Airlines. As its name suggests, the Dreamliner is a luxury aircraft built to carry a large amount of people to faraway locations. 

The baseline 787 is built to carry 242 passengers. Tanaka’s flight, on the other hand, featured a markedly sparse cabin—six passengers in all, including Tanaka, his wife and their brown toy poodle. 

While extravagant, one can hardly call the purchase surprising. Tokyo is a long distance from New York, and $200,000 is a drop in a bucket for a man who just signed a seven-year, $155 million contract.

Prior to his flight, Tanaka spoke to members of the Tokyo press on Sunday and explained he was covering the cost of the charter with his own money, per the New York Post’s Bruce Golding.

“It’s a (chartered) private jet. It’s not something the Yankees have prepared,” Tanaka said. He also claimed he chose to fly private in order to be “in the best of form” for spring training workouts in America.

Tanaka and the rest of the Yankees pitchers and catchers will begin spring training in Tampa, Fla., this Saturday. Judging by the wintry weather currently afflicting Japan, the Sunshine State will be a welcomed change of scenery. His drive from the hotel to Tokyo’s Narita Airport allegedly took eight hours due to poor weather. 

Be on the lookout for more big purchases from Tanaka. The man has yet to pitch an inning for New York, but he’s already spending like a Yankee. 

Put it this way: If you’re going down to watch some spring games this year, don’t be surprised if there’s a brown poodle in the dugout chowing beef tartare. That’s just how Tanaka rolls.

 

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Brian Cashman Sees Masahiro Tanaka as a ‘Solid, Consistent No. 3 Starter’

The New York Yankees have invested a great deal of money in Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. And on Friday, Feb. 7, general manager Brian Cashman explained why.

Cashman talked about the Yankees’ big offseason addition during an ESPN Radio interview on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, predicting that the 25-year-old right-hander will be the No. 3 starter in New York’s rotation, per ESPNNewYork.com’s Andrew Marchand.

Cashman specified the Yankees’ goals for Tanaka in 2014, which will be his first season in the majors: 

We view him to be a really solid, consistent No. 3 starter. If we get more than that, all the better. He’s got a great deal of ability.

There is definitely some unknown because of the transition. We scouted him extensively. Certainly, we look forward to adding him into the mix with the rest of our rotation. That’s what we look at him as: A solid, potential No. 3 starter in the big leagues. 

Cashman was quick to admit that the franchise has reasonable expectations for Tanaka and doesn’t anticipate greatness right away, per Marchand:

That’s asking too much. Clearly, he is going to have to transition from Japan to the States. Obviously, by the fierce negotiating competition for him, the scouting reports from all clubs involved speak for themselves. 

The Yankees inked Tanaka to a seven-year, $155 million deal on Jan. 22, the fifth-largest contract for a pitcher in major league history, according to Marchand

Although it remains to be seen whether Tanaka‘s strengths on the mound will translate to the majors, there’s clearly no denying what Cashman and the rest of the Yankees front office saw in him during his time in Nippon Professional Baseball.

After all, Tanaka went a flawless 24-0 with a ridiculous 1.27 ERA in 2013.

Considering Tanaka‘s overwhelming success in Japan and the weight of his massive contract, it’s hard to imagine the Yankees would limit him to a role of a No. 3 starter.

It’s possible that Tanaka could require an entire season to adjust to a new league. However, Yankees fans will be short on patience given how much the club has invested in him. 

Cashman made it clear that Tanaka will face numerous challenges in terms of transitioning into the majors, highlighting those obstacles as the reason why he likely won’t appear in the front of New York’s rotation in 2014, per Marchand:

We look forward that he is a Yankee and we will be in position, with our experience in the past, to maximize his potential as he goes through that. No, he is not someone who is going to, in the front end of this thing, pitch in the front of the rotation.

Despite the promise that Tanaka brings to the Big Apple, the Yankees’ rotation will have plenty to prove in 2014 as New York aims to bounce back from a disappointing season in which it won just 85 games and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008. 

 

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