Yankees: Masahiro Tanaka Will Not Pitch In WBC for Japan

Speaking at his former home stadium in Sendai, Japan, Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka announced he will not participate in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

I don’t know about you, but I’m honestly relieved that the Yankees No. 1 starter has decided to forgo pitching for Team Japan in this spring’s World Baseball Classic. On Monday, in northeast Japan, Tanaka told the Japan News:

“Taking various factors into consideration, it would be difficult, so I will not participate.”

One would think at the top of the list of “various factors” is that partially torn UCL in his right throwing elbow. Yet, even as late as last week, it was reported that Tanaka was still mulling over whether or not he would join fellow countryman, and potential Yankees target (come 2018) Shohei Otani, in representing Japan in the WBC.

Tanaka, 14-4 last season with a 3.07 ERA and 1.077 WHIP, last pitched for Japan in the 2013 WBC, which was the country’s second consecutive WBC title.

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The biggest factor for Tanaka wisely withdrawing his name from WBC consideration is the fact that he’s due to make $110,000 per inning in 2017 — on his way towards a total $22M. All this before he potentially opts out of the remaining 3-years/$67M owed to him by the Yankees.

Should Tanaka complete another stellar campaign as he did last year, the logical assumption is that he will look for another long-term contractual agreement, since he’s only now entering his age 28 season.

Though the 2017 free agent market for starting pitching is improved from the 2016 version, it still isn’t filled to the brim with premier talent. If not for Jake Arrieta, Tanaka would be the biggest prize to be had, partially torn UCL or not.

Taking a peak at the list of pending free agents, color me unimpressed by the likes of Jaime Garcia, Chris Tillman, Jeremy Hellickson, John Lackey, Francisco Liriano, Ubaldo Jimenez, CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda, and so on.

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Without a doubt, Tanaka focusing on getting ready for Spring Training with the Yankees is the right move. With a rigorous 162 game schedule and potential Postseason to play through, adding excessive innings so early on in the calendar year could not only dramatically mess with the Yankees’ chances to contend in the highly-competitive AL East, but any further health quandaries for the new Pokemon spokesman could result in him potentially losing out on a couple hundred million dollars.

It’s all about risk versus reward.