Veteran right-hander Masahiro Tanaka has reached an agreement with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball, per a report from Yahoo Japan (h/t to Yakyu Cosmopolitan). The terms of the deal are not yet clear, but it appears he’ll be joining a new NPB team for the first time in his lengthy career.
Tanaka, 36, has enjoyed a long and successful career between NPB and MLB. He made his debut with the Rakuten Golden Eagles at the age of 18 back in 2007, and after seven dominant seasons in NPB was posted for MLB clubs prior to the 2014 season. The right-hander instantly became one of the most sought-after players on the free agent market before eventually signing with the Yankees on a seven-year, $155MM deal. In 20 starts with New York during his first season in the majors, Tanaka posted an excellent 2.77 ERA (138 ERA+) with a 3.04 FIP en route to an All-Star appearance and a fifth-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting.
Impressive as that debut season in the big leagues was, Tanaka eventually settled in as more of a solid mid-rotation arm with the Yankees than as a true ace. In his seven seasons with the club, the right-hander pitched to a 3.74 ERA (114 ERA+) with a 3.91 FIP in 1054 1/3 innings as a big leaguer. He made his second and final MLB All-Star appearance in 2019, and pitched to a solid 3.33 ERA in 54 postseason innings for the Yankees during his tenure with the club. His final year with the Yankees was abbreviated due to the 60-game pandemic-shortened campaign that took place in 2020, but Tanaka look solid in ten starts with a 3.56 ERA in 48 innings of work that stood as his best mark since 2016.
When he hit the free agent market ahead of his age-32 season, Tanaka was among the most well-regarded pitchers in the class. MLBTR ranked Tanaka as the #10 free agent in the class on that year’s edition of our Top 50 MLB Free Agents list, and the righty appeared to be a lock to remain in the majors as a quality mid-rotation veteran. As free agency played out, however, the Yankees turned their attention to retaining second baseman DJ LeMahieu. While Tanaka garnered at least some interest from other MLB clubs, he ultimately headed back home to Japan to pitch for Rakuten once again. At the time, Tanaka noted that his preference if he returned to Japan was a return to the Golden Eagles, though he also suggested he would be open to a deal with the Yomiuri Giants.
As it happens, it now appears he’ll be playing for the Giants after all, albeit only after a four-year pit stop with his original team. Tanaka’s second stint with Rakuten did not go quite as well as his first. He pitched to a 3.73 ERA in 463 innings of work in Pacific League play over the past four seasons, though he struck out just 17.5% of opponents in that time. That’s a far cry from the 27.8% clip he struck out opponents at for the Golden Eagles back in 2011, and it’s even several steps back from the career 23.1% strikeout rate that Tanaka posted during his seven seasons in the majors.
Despite those declining numbers, it appears that Yomiuri is willing to take a chance on the right-hander as their own longtime veteran, Tomoyuki Sugano, explores a possible jump to the major leagues. Tanaka made just one start for Rakuten’s Pacific League team in 2024, but he’s surely hoping to make more than that next season with his new club. The right-hander has gathered 197 career wins between NPB and MLB play to this point in his career, leaving him just three wins shy of a major milestone.
