After seven seasons in the Bronx, Masahiro Tanaka returns to Japan. In a tweet posted Thursday and shared by Jon Paul Morosi of MLB.com, the Rakuten Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization announced that they had reached an agreement with the 32-year-old right-handed man.
After seven seasons in the Bronx, Masahiro Tanaka returns to Japan.
In a tweet posted Thursday and shared by Jon Paul Morosi of MLB.com, the Rakuten Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization announced that they had reached an agreement with the 32-year-old right-handed man.
NEWS: Masahiro Tanaka has reached an agreement with his original club, the Rakuten Eagles of NPB, and thus his 7-year tenure with the #Yankees. @MLB @MLBNetwork https://t.co/vQ6XddxLrs
– Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 28, 2021
Tanaka spent seven seasons with the Rakuten Eagles, going between 99 and 35 with an ERA of 2.29 before signing a seven-year $ 155 million deal with the Yankees in January 2014.
Tanaka won at least 11 games in each of his first six seasons with New York, and he was 78-46 with an ERA of 3.74 in 174 career appearances (173 starts) with the Yankees. He also went 5-4 with a 3.33 ERA in 10 postseason starts.
Tanaka’s possible return to the Bronx had become increasingly unlikely after the Yanks signed Corey Kluber and took over Jameson Taillon from the Pirates. In the past few days, Sankei Sports reported in Tokyo that Tanaka could soon sign with his former Japanese team.
