Very early in the offseason, it appeared that the New York Yankees were cutting ties with the seven-season Yankee pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. His contract was up, and when the Yankees didn’t give him a qualifying offer, it seemed that his time with the Yankees might be over.
Tanaka, now a free agent, will be listening to offers from around baseball. Although Tanaka has been a solid pitcher for the Yankees and a fan favorite, the Yankees realize he isn’t worth the $23 million he was paid last year. The risk for the Yankees in employing a mid-rotation pitcher is that they can’t be sure what they will get no matter who that is.