Yankees Editorial: Is Masahiro Tanaka A Bust?

The Yankees spent a lot of money two off-seasons ago in order to try and fix the squad. On offense, Robinson Cano was allowed to leave and in his place was Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran. On the pitching side, Masahiro Tanaka was added. The Yankees managed to beat competition from teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs for his services.

Brian Cashman is one of the best GM’s in the game at making in-season trades. Brandon McCarthy for Vidal Nuno? Well done. Jerry Hairston Jr. and Eric Hinske added in 2009? Helped the bench. He’s also very good at building bullpens. Esmil Rogers and Chris Martin for nothing? Chasen Shreve and David Carpenter for a guy with a 4.43 ERA in AAA who’s arm hasn’t come back from Tommy John surgery yet? Well done.

On the flip side, his track record in bringing in starting pitchers has been, let’s say not good. Jaret Wright? Kevin Brown? Carl Pavano? Jeff Weaver? No bueno.

Does Masahiro Tanaka belong in that group?

Well, when Masahiro Tanaka has been healthy, hes been pretty dominant. The 26 year-old in 24 starts is 15-6 with a 2.84 ERA. Here’s the thing though. He hasn’t been healthy.

Tanaka has the partial tear in the UCL and now may have over compensated and has tendinitis in his wrist. Cashman has even admited that his could be a precursor to Tommy John surgery.

David Price said he could have hurt himself because of the cold weather last week in Detroit.

Does that sound like an ace? Granted, Tanaka probably never pitched in any conditions like that, but it can get that cold in October when it matters the most.

If Tanaka needs Tommy John, let’s say it’s in a couple of months, that’s a 12-18 month recovery. Let’s say he only pitches a little bit in 2016 and then is fully healthy and dominates in 2017. Guess what? He has an opt-out after 2017. After his age 28 season. When power pitching rules. Guess what? He’s opting out and getting a Brinks truck of cash from some team.

The Yankees would get basically two useful years out of the contract. That doesn’t seem like a great buy to me.

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