TAMPA — On the day Masahiro Tanaka drew raves from catcher J.R. Murphy about a bullpen session that was witnessed by a bevy of Yankees brass, fellow countryman Yu Darvish said the Bombers overpaid Tanaka.
“I don’t know too much about the new posting system, but I think the Yankees gave him too much,’’ the Rangers’ right-hander said Tuesday, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Considering Darvish is considered by many to be a better pitcher than Tanaka and signed for less money under a different posting system, Darvish could be envious of Tanaka’s deal. Darvish is entering the third leg of a six-year deal for $56 million and Tanaka received $155 million across seven seasons from the Yankees, who had to pay $20 million to Rakuten, Tanaka’s former team in Japan.
Darvish quickly tried to extinguish the firestorm surrounding his comments. He explained on Twitter and in a statement the comments about Tanaka were meant as a joke, and the reporters in the room should have known that.
“I am sorry if anyone took my comment seriously about Masahiro Tanaka,” Darvish said in the statement. “I assumed by reaction in the room that everyone knew I was joking.”
During the interview with reporters, Darvish also said Tanaka had him and two other Japanese pitchers to thank for the monster contract.
“I think Kuroda, [Hisashi] Iwakuma and I really helped him how scouts and teams evaluated Tanaka, that’s what I think,’’ Darvish said.
Before Darvish’s comments, Tanaka worked alongside Kuroda and CC Sabathia in a bullpen at the Yankees facility. The workout was witnessed by Joe Girardi, pitching coach Larry Rothschild and assistant GM Billy Eppler.
“I was really impressed. The fastball and curve were really good,’’ said Murphy, who caught Tanaka after Francisco Cervelli caught Tanaka’s first two bullpens. “Every pitch he had, he threw.’’
Former Yankees captain, second baseman and Mets manager Willie Randolph is expected to arrive in camp Wednesday as a special instructor.
Asked if the Yankees would have done things differently this past offseason had he known Derek Jeter was going to retire after the season, GM Brian Cashman said, “No, we got the players we wanted.’’