New York Yankees: Door to a reunion with Masahiro Tanaka all but closed

The free agent market has been fairly slow all winter, but when it comes to former New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, the market has been largely non-existent.

Previous reports have suggested that Tanaka’s decision was down to either returning to the New York Yankees in 2021, or heading back to the NPB, where he spent the first seven seasons of his professional career.

Former Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka heading to Japan?

While Masahiro Tanaka refuted that report, the latest news from Pete Caldera of NorthJersey.com reports that Tanaka is in “advanced negotiations” to return to the Rakuten Eagles of the NPB. A contract could be finalized in the coming days.

Despite being one of the top pitching talents on the free agent market this winter, there haven’t been very many rumors swirling around possible destinations for seven-year MLB veteran, which is surprising considering the number of teams that would greatly benefit from having him in their rotation.

But as a large handful of teams avoid handing out big contracts this year and many others fill their rotation needs via the trade market, Masahiro Tanaka has been sort of left behind.

Even if an MLB team comes in with a last-second offer that persuades Tanaka to stay in the United States, it very likely won’t be the New York Yankees.

After a quiet start to the offseason and a heavy focus on bringing infielder DJ LeMahieu back, the Yankees have since bolstered their rotation by adding free agent Corey Kluber and swinging a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jameson Taillon.

Both arms bring a high degree of risk, but the upside with these additions is enticing and could pay big dividends for the New York Yankees in 2021.

If this is the end of Masahiro Tanaka’s run in Major League Baseball, it was quite the career.

Across seven seasons with the New York Yankees, Tanaka went 78-46 with a 3.74 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 991 strikeouts across 1054.1 career innings. He made his debut in 2014, earning an All-Star nod and finishing fifth in American League Rookie of the Year voting. He would make one more All-Star game in 2019.

Unfortunately, Tanaka never had the opportunity to pitch in World Series during his time with the Yankees.

Nothing is official yet, but the door to a reunion between the New York Yankees and Masahiro Tanaka appears to be all but closed. And for any teams still in desperate need of pitching help who don’t land Trevor Bauer, you have to imagine that they may end up regretting not going after Tanaka more aggressively.