Masahiro Tanaka Introduction LIVE Stream: Japanese Ace Will Head to Spring Training On Time After Meeting New York Media
ByThe New York Yankees ponied up a huge sum to land Japanese ace pitcher Masahiro Tanaka and will officially introduce him Tuesday before sending him off to camp.
The YES Network will air a live press conference at 1 p.m. where the 25-year-old starting pitcher will meet the media in New York. The Yankees paid his team in Japan, the Rakuten Golden Eagles, $20 million to negotiate a contract, which turned out to be for seven years and $155 million.
CLICK HERE to WATCH the introduction live online at MLB.com.
According to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch, Yankees manager Joe Girardi, general manager Brian Cashman, managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner, president Randy Levine and COO Lonn Trost are all expected to be on hand.
Tanaka's contract is the third highest for a pitcher in the history of the game behind the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw and the Yankees' CC Sabathia. However, Tanaka's numbers in Japan have been phenomenal for someone early in their career.
Per Baseball Reference, Tanaka went 24-0 in 2013 with a 1.27 ERA and nearly a 6:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. One main concern about Tanaka is the workload he has already undertaken. At the age of 18, he pitched a full season and a total of 186 innings, which was around his average workload in seven years for the Golden Eagles.
Tim Dierkes wrote for MLBTradeRumors.com that various scouts are divided on Tanaka's immediate impact in MLB, but they agree he has three effective pitches. While he will face better hitters and deeper lineups in the U.S., his fastball, slider and splitter will serve him well, the scouts said.
Tanaka is all but guaranteed a spot in the Yankees' rotation with Sabathia, Ivan Nova and fellow Japanese hurler Hiroki Kuroda, the order of which has yet to be set. Both Japanese pitchers throw a slider and splitter, but Kuroda moved from the Japanese professional league much later in his career.
The New York Post reported Monday that Tanaka chartered a private jet, which Tanaka said was not paid for by the Yankees. The plane carried the pitcher and his wife, two friends, a Japanese baseball official and the Tanakas' poodle, Maru.