IT’S HIRO TIME
But Yankee ace’s future in Bronx in question:
season (he also has a no-trade clause).
It’s a fascinating proposition for both pitcher and club.
“Obviously I know what my contract says, but that doesn’t affect how I try to perform out there,” Tanaka said through a translator. “The effort that you give out each game is the same.”
Some within the organization wonder if he will ultimately decide to be loyal to the Yankees and play it out. However, if he has a huge year, he could parlay it into an even larger payday — with more money and years — assuming someone is willing to gamble. Would that someone be the Yankees – especially when factoring in his injury history and the risk that comes with it? Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish will also free-agent eligible in 2018, but both will be over 30.
“We have a significant contract with Masahiro Tanaka,” Brian Cashman said in January when asked if he’d had extension talks with Tanaka’s representatives. “Hopefully he has a great year, and then he’ll have a decision to make. If he doesn’t, then he won’t. I think he pitched like a Cy Young award candidate last year, and I certainly hope he does so again this year. But at this point we’ve had no discussions internally to pursue any kind of extension.”
There’s a lot at stake. Tanaka is pitching with a partial UCL tear in his right elbow — even if Yankees fans are sick of hearing about it. As one concerned NL scout said, “it could blow at any second.”
Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia are both entering their walk years, meaning the Yankees’ already mediocre rotation going into 2018 is, well, barren. It’s why James Kaprielian needs to pan out. And the Yankees could use Jordan Montgomery and/ or Luis Severino to pan out, too. At least then there would be some sort of young foundation on the cheap with several years of team control, as the 2019 offseason free-agent spending bonanza inches closer.
Tanaka is on another level. He came over from Japan with high expectations. He started his career 11-1 with a 1.99 ERA before the UCL injury came. Tanaka made 20 starts in 2014, 24 in 2015 and 31 in 2016, when he finished just one out away from reaching the 200-inning mark for the first time in MLB.
Tanaka’s brilliance comes from his vast arsenal of pitches — most notably his devastating splitter — and ability to pick up W’s when he doesn’t have his best stuff. The Yankees went 23-8 in Tanaka’s starts last season and finished 84-78. There’s a reason he’s a rare and valuable commodity. And there’s plenty of incentive for him to do well in 2017. Then, he’ll have a tough decision to make. In turn, the Yankees may have a difficult decision to make as well.
NIESE IS BACK: Two days after letting him go, the Yankees have brought back Jon Niese. The ex-Met has returned to the team on a minor-league deal, the Daily News confirmed.
Niese was released on Sunday. He was trying to make the Yankees as a lefty reliever out of camp, and posted a 4.50 ERA in six appearances. But the Yankees felt he was behind in his recovery from offseason knee surgery, and didn’t want to give him a $100,000 retention bonus since he was still building arm strength. His velocity had been clocked regularly in the mid-80s. When the Yankees released Niese, the possibility of his return did exist.