Yankees: Like it or not, Tanaka holds the keys to the kingdom

The Yankees have gone from paupers to kings in a matter of days when it comes to starting pitching. But like it or not, one of those starters has the power to throw a wrench in the team’s plans, both now and shortly.

The Yankees are noted not only for their on the field accomplishments of 40 AL Pennants and 27 World Championships, but also for their business acumen in building the most successful franchise in all of professional sports.

But for all that, the organization finds itself at the behest of one of their employees, which for any business can be a sign of weakness and frustration. The employee, in this case, is Masahiro Tanaka, who holds an opt-out clause in his contract at the end of this season, and with it, the keys to the Yankees kingdom for years to come.

According to contract experts Spotrac, the Yankees signed Tanaka to a $155 million deal in 2014 as an import from Japan with no American baseball experience. Included in the contract was a player owned option at the end of 2017 in which he could elect to stay with the team, or declare himself a free agent.

Along with his agent, Casey Close, Tanaka will make that decision at season’s end. The kicker is that if he opts-out, he leaves $66 million on the table as he searches for a new team and contract.

And considering the up and down season he’s had this year with the Yankees, a team might have to be hard pressed to pay him even that for the next three or four years. Particularly as he has ten years of pitching at a high level since he was eighteen years old, in both Japan and the United States.

From the Yankees perspective, and only I or someone like myself can say this, having Tanaka on the team for the next three seasons would be a major catastrophe, given the fact that the team is already building around him. And behind closed doors, you can bet they are saying the same thing.

The Yankees secret weapon

If we assume the Yankees are hoping and praying Tanaka decides to move out and file for divorce, and there’s no reason to believe they aren’t, the organization needs to find a way to finesse Tanaka out the door.

And that also assumes we agree the team doesn’t need him next season if Jaime Garcia warrants a new contract and CC Sabathia is offered a one-year deal to come back for another season. Together with Luis Severino, Sonny Gray, and Jordan Montgomery, that’s the makings of a pretty good staff to start the season. And that assumes the Yankees will not add another starter via the free agent market over the winter.

So okay, what’s this finessing thing all about. Remember, Tanaka is of Japanese descent. The culture teaches respect and individual pride above all else. These are same traits that allowed for pilots to board planes during World War II, crashing into enemy boats, drawn from orders by their superiors.

Please, before I lose you, I did not say it is the same, I said it was similar. And here’s how and why. If the Yankees can make Tanaka feel unwanted, as in not part of their plans, Tanaka is likely, not only to recognize it but take it to heart. And decide to go elsewhere.

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The Yankees can do that first by demoting Tanaka to the fifth starter, indicating the reason as his inconsistency over the season to date. They could also skip him once or twice in the rotation, whenever the schedule permitted. Or, in a truly bold move, the Yankees could announce he’s not of the five starters at all and they’re going with the rest of the way without him, and Tanaka takes a seat in the bullpen as the “long man.”

Any combination of the above will send the message loud and clear. Or, a better idea might be for the Yankees to have a closed door meeting with Casey Close, telling him these are the things we are thinking about doing. Now, how about you go back to your client to see if you can get a commitment (unannounced) from your client that he will opt-out, saving all of us a lot of grief.

The Hardball Yankees?

This is hardball; I get it. But the Yankees have to recognize they can’t allow one employee hold the keys to their kingdom for the next three years.

The Yankees have played hardball before when they unceremoniously released Hall of Famer, Phil Rizzuto, on Old Timer’s Day. And they played hardball with Alex Rodriguez, telling him it was time to fade away, even though he needed only two more home runs to reach 700. And they had no problem firing Billy Martin – how many times?

The Yankees are in a poker game staring at two aces on the table, and they’re not the ones holding them.

A final option would be to release Tanaka, send him through waivers, sending another sign to him, and hope that another team puts a claim on him. The Yankees have nothing to lose in doing that since the worse that could happen is he returns to the team as “unwanted.”

Next: Which of these horses will end up in the barn?

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