Still looking to show he has some bullets left in the tank, Masahiro Tanaka has signed with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the 2025 season. Tanaka has spent 11 seasons with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.
Tanaka, 36, began his career with the Golden Eagles at just 18 years old in 2007. He would pitch there until 2013 before being posted as he transitioned to the MLB. He signed with the New York Yankees on a seven-year, $155 million contract, which was the fifth-largest contract given to a pitcher at the time. He would spend seven seasons in a Yankee uniform, becoming a two-time All-Star, finishing his MLB stint with a 78-46 record, a 3.74 ERA in 173 starts, throwing seven complete games, with four of them being shutouts, striking out 991 batters in 1,054.1 innings of work.
After the conclusion of the 2020 season, Tanaka decided to head back to his hometown, Japan and rejoined the Golden Eagles on a two-year deal for the 2021 season. After those two successful seasons, he re-signed for the 2023 season on a one-year deal. Struggles faced Tanaka in 2023, and after the season, he would undergo right-elbow cleanup surgery. That would sideline Tanaka for most of the 2024 season, where he had only made one start in the Pacific League after five rehab starts in the Eastern League. Tanaka fired five innings in his one start, allowing six hits and four earned runs, walking two batters, and only picking up one strikeout.
Now, Tanaka joins the Yomiuri Giants, who are looking to build on their first-place finish in 2024. As Tomoyuki Sugano departs for the MLB, Tanaka joins the Sawamura Award runner-up Shosei Togo atop the Giants rotation. It will be fascinating to see if Tanaka can regain his full strength and be a formidable option for the Giants all season.
