Kevin Kernan

Kevin Kernan

MLB

Dice-K to Tanaka: Be ready to adjust

PORT ST. LUCIE — Dice-K knows the deal. He’s been down this road. Be prepared to make some major adjustments to your life, Masahiro Tanaka.

As the Yankees were unveiling Tanaka at a Yankee Stadium press conference Tuesday, Daisuke Matsuzaka was meeting with six reporters under the cool shade of a tree at the Mets spring training complex. There was no chartered jet for Dice-K this time around. He flew from Japan to Boston and then drove here. One stop.

Asked about that long ride to the Treasure Coast, he laughed and said he will fly to Florida next time.

On this day he was the voice of experience sharing some powerful words of advice for Tanaka, who is the current toast-of-the-town Japanese pitcher after the Yankees shelled out $175 million for his services.

Dice-K as a Red Sox rookie in 2007.AP

“It is a big deal right now,” Matsuzaka, 33, said through interpreter Jeff Cutler. “It is something everybody is talking about. And it may cause him stress, among other things, coming over, a new environment and everything. At the beginning, he is going to have to spend a lot of time adjusting and adapting to life over here and baseball.

“But as long as he is able to deal with that and overcome those things, I think he is a pitcher who has talent, so I think he can have success over here.”

What would be the biggest challenges for Tanaka?

“For me, most of the challenges were outside of baseball,” Matsuzaka said. “Baseball wasn’t too stressful or too difficult to adjust to, but it was more of the things that happened in daily life, the American lifestyle, the cultural aspect of it. Things that were different. It took a little while to get used to and to understand.”

Tanaka paid $195,000 for his flight to New York, according to reports. For his initial press conference with the Red Sox seven years ago, Matsuzaka said he flew from Los Angeles to Boston on the Red Sox plane.

He smiled and said: “I didn’t pay.”

Matsuzaka and Tanaka played on the same World Baseball Classic team.

“But that’s about it,” Matsuzaka said of their relationship.

Imagine how big a story it will be in Japan if Matsuzaka and Tanaka match up in a Subway Series game. Dice-K declined to look ahead, knowing he still must win the fifth spot with the Mets.

“I don’t want to get too ahead of myself,” he said. “I want to focus on what I can do now and be on the Opening Day roster before I can start thinking about those things.”

Matsuzaka, with a 53-40 record in the majors, has made a combined 62 starts in the past five injury-plagued seasons after winning 33 games for the Red Sox his first two big league seasons. He had an impressive 55-pitch bullpen session his first day in camp under the watchful eye of manager Terry Collins.

Matsuzaka elected to re-sign with the Mets because of the opportunity. He works well with pitching coach Dan Warthen, who made several adjustments that helped the right-hander, including repositioning his feet in his setup. Dice-K posted a 1.37 ERA over his last four starts in 2013.

Matsuzaka is trying to hang onto his major league career while Tanaka is just getting started.

“I decided from the very beginning of the offseason that if the Mets made me an offer, I would take it,” Matsuzaka said. “I was able to communicate well with both Dan and Terry and the other coaches. I felt really comfortable. This is the place I wanted to be.

“If I didn’t have the confidence that I could make a major league rotation, I would have just decided to go back to Japan. I have the confidence of winning the spot, but that is something I have to prove.”

Collins told The Post, “The way he finished last year I am glad he is back in camp because he gives us huge security. This guy can pitch.”

Dice-K knows the deal and knows now he belongs with the Mets.