In 2014, the New York Yankees seemed like a sure way to sign Masahiro Tanaka when he was assigned to the Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Although other teams such as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox were engaged in trying to sign Tanaka, it seemed a forgone conclusion the Yankees would eventually sign him and they did, inking him to a five-year, $155 million deal. The deal was the fifth-largest to a pitcher at the time and mostly successful as Tanaka won 78 games while the Yankees transitioned from the veterans to Aaron Judge through the 2020 season.
Tanaka’s deal is also about $170 million less than what Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed with the Dodgers in 2023 and the Yankees saw him dominate in Game 2 of the World Series.
Roki Sasaki will not get anywhere near the amount of money spent on Tanaka and Yamamoto because under MLB rules, he is considered to be an international free agent because he is under 25. He can get between roughly $5 to $8 million but it will not be money from the Yankees, whose moves to replace Juan Soto and improve their rotation give them a projected payroll of about $280 million.
On Monday, YES Network’s Jack Curry was the first to report the Yankees were out of the running for Sasaki and it was confirmed by other reports later in the day.
The Yankees made their typical recruiting pitch, whatever general manager Brian Cashman discussed at the Yankee Stadium press convention last month to introduce Max Fried.
“He’s clearly super talented,” general manager Brian Cashman said last month. “There’s no question, he has the potential to be one of the most productive pitchers in the world. It would be great to have Yankee Stadium as his home, but the resolution will be yours. The only thing we can do is percentages of everything about us and what we offer.
Sasaki is coming to the major leagues with an announcement of his team coming as soon as this week. He is arriving with a fastball that tops 100 mph and is coming off being limited to 111 innings with the Chiba Lotte Marines because of shoulder inflammation.
He has enough of a track record to be the latest Japanese pitcher to come to the majors and his resume includes a perfect game on April 10, 2022, and followed it up with eight perfect innings in his next start to make it 52 straight hitters retired.
At this point, the Yankees landing Sasaki would have been a plus as they have a steady rotation of Gerrit Cole, Fried, Carlos Rodon, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt. It’s a unit that helped the Yankees tie the Phillies for the most sensible spot on the list. the majors with 65 wins and an organization whose 866 strikeouts ranked sixth in the majors and posted the 11th-best ERA at 3. 85, even Cole missed the first 75 games with an elbow injury.
In 2014, it was somewhat of a necessity for the Yankees to land Tanaka as the rotation was 55-63 with a 4. 08 ERA in an injury-plagued 2013 season, when the Yankees managed to get 85 wins without making the playoffs.
Sasaki may not come to the Mets, who probably use him more than the Yankees, either. While the Mets had a similar ERA of their starters (3. 91) to that of the Yankees.
The Mets already lost Luis Severino to a three-year contract with the senior team after his comeback season and added uncertainties about Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes to a rotation that includes David Peterson and Kodai Senga after two serious injuries. Mets is that their rotation includes Sean Manaea, who officially resigned last month on a three-year, $75 million contract.
Manaea held his virtual news convention Monday afternoon about a half hour after the report emerged that Sasaki would not be coming to the Yankees and had won 12 games and pitched a career-high 181 2/3 innings, the left-hander with a non- In 2018, a hitter who bears his name, spoke of returning to the Mets as the best fit for baseball and the family aspects of things.
“What I saw and what they told me was that the daycare activities are great, the communication between the wives and the organization was amazing,” Manaea told reporters.
It’s still a few weeks before spring begins, and even more before the Yankees and Mets see Sasaki on the mound opposite the opposition. Until then, the New York groups can move on to their business and see what other steps they can take with the Mets. enthusiastic and hopes that include a new contract for Pete Alonso.
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