Why did Yomiuri reach out to Tanaka for '197 wins' pitcher on the verge of retirement
Why did Yomiuri reach out to Tanaka for '197 wins' pitcher on the verge of retirement
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The U.S. and Japan are moving again toward "200 wins." Masahiro Tanaka (36), a "197 wins" pitcher who was on the verge of retirement, has succeeded in re-employment. Manager Shinnosuke Abe'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 were talks about the Chunichi Dragons, who ranked last in the Central League for the third consecutive year, and the Yakult Swallows, who ranked fifth for the second consecutive year. As the two teams turned to non-recruitment, there was a prospect that they could become lost because they could not find their team.
Now, he can burn the last flame in his Yomiuri Giants uniform. If he secures three wins, he will achieve 200 wins. Tanaka has 119 wins for Rakuten and 78 wins for the New York Yankees.
During his prime, Tanaka had nothing to be afraid of. He led the Rakuten Eagles to the first Japan Series title in 2013, thanks to his monstrous performance and 24 wins and no loss. The opponent team of the Japan Series was the Yomiuri Giants. Tanaka became the last pitcher in the ninth inning of Game 7, securing his victory. He thus made his first two starts. On the previous day, he pitched 160 pitches in nine innings, and went to Game 7 to preserve his victory.
Tanaka flew to the Major League the following year. While playing for seven seasons as the main starter of the New York Yankees, he posted 78 wins and 46 losses.
Rakuten specially treated the returning ace. It paid the highest annual salary of 900 million yen to the Japanese pro baseball team from 2021 to 2022.
However, Tanaka was no longer an ace with poor pitching capabilities. He only had four wins in 2021, nine in 2022 and seven in 2023. He even humiliated himself by losing the most games for two consecutive years between 2022-2023. His fastball speed was too low to overwhelm batters. His fastball was in the early to mid 140 kilometers per hour 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. He faced a catastrophe with Rakuten in late November. The club offered a sharp cut from this year's annual salary of 260 million yen. Tanaka refused to do so. "It's not about the amount of annual salary," he said. "I won't go back to Rakuten even if I can't find another team," he said. The emotional goal with Rakuten has deepened.
The team won 20 games and lost 33 games. It was achieved for four years after returning to Japan. Most teams view Tanaka as highly unlikely to make a comeback, but Yomiuri seems to have seen something else.
He seems to expect the starting lineup to play a leading role rather than an ace player's performance. Ace Tomoyuki Sugano (35) is seeking to advance to the Major League with 15 wins. Only when he fills the void in any way possible will he be able to re-challenge for the next season.
The Yomiuri Giants have a classmate born in 1988 who played baseball with Tanaka as a child. He is Hayato Sakamoto, 36, an infielder. When he was in elementary school, he pitched and catcher for the same team. At that time, Sakamoto was a pitcher and Tanaka was a catcher. Both of them played key roles in the 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) Japanese national team.
This season, the Yomiuri Giants won the Central League title for the first time in four years. The team beat the fierce pursuit of the Hanshin Tigers, the winner of the 2023 Japan Series. It started anew under Abe's leadership, and succeeded in rebounding.
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He aimed to win the Japan Series title for the first time in 12 years, but managed to swallow his disappointment. He was defeated by Yokohama BayStars, ranking third in the league, in the final stage of the Climax Series. He failed to advance to the Japan Series.
The Yomiuri Giants are making all-out efforts to strengthen their power this winter. It has recruited Leidel Martinez, a top-flight finisher from the Chunichi Dragons. He signed a two-year contract worth 2.4 billion yen and 16 million dollars. This is the highest annual salary in the Japanese pro baseball league.
Despite Japanese national team closer Daisei Ota, he opened his wallet wide to strengthen his bullpen. Cuban right-hander Martinez made 43 saves this year. He became the second relief king after 2022. Yomiuri plans to use Daisei and Martinez as "double stoppers."
He even tried to target right-hander Shuta Ishikawa, who was released from the Softbank Hawks, but failed. Ishikawa chose Chiba Lotte Marines. Even Abe pushed for recruitment of Yusuke Oyama, the fourth batter of the Hanshin Tigers. He stepped up while risking overlapping positions with Kazuma Okamoto, the fourth batter. The recruitment was canceled as Oyama decided to stay with Hanshin after much consideration.