Why did Yomiuri reach out to Tanaka, a 197-win pitcher on the verge of retirement

Dec 16, 2024

Tanaka, whose transfer to Yomiuri is confirmed. Adding three wins in the Yomiuri Giants will complete the long-awaited 200 wins in the U.S.-Japan career. Photo capture = Rakuten Eagles SNS

photo capture=Rakuten Eagles SNS

It moves again toward the 200th win in the U.S.-Japan career. Masahiro Tanaka (36), a pitcher who was on the verge of retirement, succeeded in re-employment. Manager Abe Shinnosuke's Yomiuri Giants offered a helping hand. It has been two weeks since he was released as a free agent by the Rakuten Eagles on the 2nd.

Japanese media, including Sports Nippon, reported on the 16th that 'Yomiuri has decided to recruit Tanaka' Initially, Yomiuri was not very interested in recruiting Tanaka. There was talk of the Chunichi Dragons, who finished last in the Central League for the third consecutive year, and the Yakult Swallows, who finished fifth for the second consecutive year. As the two teams turned to non-recruitment, some predicted that they could become lost because they could not find their team.

You can burn the last flame in your Yomiuri uniform. If you win three games, you will reach a shining '200 win'. Tanaka won 119 games for Rakuten and 78 games for the New York Yankees.

In his prime, Tanaka had nothing to be afraid of. With 24 wins and no losses in 2013, he led the Rakuten Eagles to their first Japan Series championship. The opponent of the Japan Series was Yomiuri. Tanaka went out as the last pitcher in the ninth inning of Game 7 and confirmed the victory. It was after two previous starts. He pitched 160 complete pitches in 9 innings the previous day and went to Game 7 to keep the victory.

Tanaka flew to Major League Baseball the following year. He played for seven seasons as the main starter for the New York Yankees, posting 78 wins and 46 losses.

Rakuten specially honored the returning ace. It paid the highest annual salary of 900 million yen in Japanese professional baseball from 2021 to 2022.

However, Tanaka, who was out of ball power, was no longer an ace. He won only four games in 2021, nine in 2022, and seven in 2023. He even experienced the humiliation of the most losses for two consecutive years in 2022-2023. His fastball speed fell, so he couldn't overwhelm the batter. The fastball couldn't get out of the early-mid 140km/h range.

This year, he pitched in one game and lost one game in the aftermath of his injury. He started against the Orix Buffaloes on September 28 and allowed four runs in five innings. It was catastrophic with Rakuten at the end of November. The club offered a significant reduction from this year's annual salary of 260 million yen. Tanaka refused and came out. He said "It's not about the amount of annual salary". "Even if I can't find another team, I won't go back to Rakuten," he said. The emotional goal deepened with the Rakuten club.

20 wins and 33 losses. This is his four-year achievement after returning to Japan. Most clubs underestimate Tanaka's chances of a comeback, but Yomiuri seems to have seen something else.

Tanaka, who returned to Rakuten in 2021, won only 20 games in four years. The ball has fallen and has struggled every year. Attention is focusing on whether he will succeed in making a comeback in the Yomiuri Giants. Photo capture = Rakuten Eagles SNS

He seems to expect the leader role of the starting team rather than an ace-class performance right now. Ace Tomoyuki Sugano (35), who posted 15 wins, is seeking to advance to the Major League. Only when the gap is filled in some way, it is possible to try again next season.

Yomiuri has a fellow born in 1988 who played baseball with Tanaka as a child. This is infielder Sakamoto Hayato (36). When I was in elementary school, I played pitcher and catcher on the same team. At that time, Sakamoto was the pitcher and Tanaka was the catcher. The two played as the main players of the Japanese national baseball team of the World Baseball Classic in 2013.

This season, the Yomiuri Giants topped the Central League for the first time in four years. It beat the fierce pursuit of the Hanshin Tigers, the winner of the 2023 Japan Series. He started anew under Abe and succeeded in rebounding.

He sought to win the Japan Series for the first time in 12 years, but swallowed his disappointment. In the final stage of the Climax Series, they were caught by the third-place Yokohama BayStars in the league. Failed to advance to Japan Series.

Yomiuri is focusing its efforts on reinforcing power this winter. He signed Raidel Martinez, a special finishing pitcher who was released as an FA from Chunichi. It signed a two-year contract of 2.4 billion yen and $16 million. This is the highest annual salary in the Japanese professional baseball league.

Despite Japanese national team closer Daisei Ota, he opened his wallet wide to strengthen the bullpen. Cuban right-hander Martinez made 43 saves this year.

Tanaka interacts with Rakuten's home fans. Photo capture = Rakuten Eagles SNS

He became the second king of salvation after 2022. Yomiuri plans to use Daisei and Martinez as 'Double Stoppers'.

He even sought right-hander Shuta Ishikawa, who was released from the Softbank Hawks, but failed. Ishikawa chose Chiba Lotte Marines. Even manager Abe pushed for the recruitment of Yusuke Oyama, the fourth batter of the Hanshin Tigers. He stepped up while risking overlapping positions with No. 4 hitter Kazuma Okamoto. Oyama's recruitment was canceled as he decided to remain at Hanshin after much consideration.

huelva@sportschosun.com