He arrived in New York in larger-than-life fashion, and now Masahiro Tanaka wants to carry that persona onto the field.
The heat of high expectations? The transition that has challenged many of his fellow Japanese transfers to Major League Baseball? Eh. Even as his general manager worked ardently to mellow out the Yankees’ fan base, Tanaka talked a big game Tuesday at his introductory news conference.
“I wanted to come here and win a championship,” the 25-year-old said, through an interpreter, at Yankee Stadium. “The Yankees are a team that is always in that type of situation. I understand there’s a lot of pressure here, but I just wanted to come here and see how far I could go.”
“He doesn’t like transitioning,” Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said of his $175 million purchase. “He wants to go right into the big stage and test himself.”
Tanaka, who agreed to a seven-year, $155 million contract with the Yankees on Jan. 22 — the Yankees also owed a $20 million posting fee to Tanaka’s previous team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles — rented a 787 to fly from Tokyo’s Norita Airport to New York . He will join the Yankees in their first pitchers/catchers workout Saturday at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
His contract, which features an opt-out after the fourth season, ranks as the fifth-highest ever for a starting pitcher and far exceeds the totals raked in by his Japanese predecessors Daisuke Matsuzaka and Yu Darvish, thanks to a change in the posting system. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman nearly broke the Internet last week when, in an ESPN Radio interview, he projected Tanaka as a No. 3 starter.
“When I take the mound, I feel like I want to win every game,” Tanaka said. “Being an ace is [not up to me, but to] the people that give other people labels. Basically, what I want to do is go out there and compete and do my best.”
Cashman went into a lengthy discourse on the subject Tuesday, contending Tanaka’s massive contract “is reflective of the scarcity of” a high-end, 25-year-old starting pitcher.
“We could be getting more than a three,” he said. “Maybe it’s a two. Maybe it’s even a one at some point.
“We think he has a great deal of ability, and we’re excited to have him join this franchise,” Cashman said. “We’ve got a lot of high-end talent, including him. He’s going to play one part of many. We look for them all to contribute.
“But I’m also trying to prepare the reality for our fan base, that because the contract is what it is, the expectation are going to be something — especially on the front end — that I want to alter to some degree, or try to. It’s better to have an honest dialogue with our fans through the media. Whether someone wants to disagree, that’s fine, or agree, that’s fine, too. I own the words that I’m putting out there. Those words are what they are.”
Said Steinbrenner: “I guess we’ll have to see what becomes of that. It’s a projection, right? So we’ll see. What I don’t have a doubt about it is, that he’s going to handle New York good. He’s going to like it here. And he’s going to do well here with the gifts that he has.”
Tanaka, addressing hundreds of media, announced in English: “Hello. My name is Masahiro Tanaka. I’m very happy to be a Yankee.”
He acknowledged the many areas of his job that will require adjustment, from Major League Baseball’s larger ball to the tougher MLB lineups. Manager Joe Girardi guessed Tanaka’s toughest change will be starting every five days, instead of once a week.
His well-documented, excessive workload while pitching for the Eagles represents part of the “risk” Cashman acknowledged.
“That was pretty normal in Japan,” Tanaka said, “so I don’t have any regrets of doing that.”
The top goal, he said, is “to win the world championship,” and to do that, the Yankees surely will have to fare well against the defending Fall Classic champions in Boston.
“Just by watching over the television of the Yankees-Red Sox games, you can see how intense the games are,” Tanaka said. “I’m very much looking forward to playing in that environment.”
Girardi said he would let spring training play out before slotting Tanaka in the Yankees’ rotation, although common sense dictates that — health permitting — CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda will get the season’s first two starts in Houston. Letting Tanaka start the third game of the season against the awful Astros, before the Yankees head to Toronto, would allow Tanaka a soft opening of sorts for his major league debut.
“Now that I’m here and wearing this uniform, I really feel that I have become a member of the New York Yankees,” Tanaka said.
He aced the pomp and circumstance, and now comes the work.