Yankees: 3 integral players whose contracts expire after this season
By Joel Wagler
Yankees whose contracts expire after 2020 – No. 2: Mashiro Tanaka
Masahiro Tanaka is a year older than Paxton, doesn’t put up quite as good of numbers, but is more durable. Tanaka only has one season below the 150 innings Paxton produced last year.
He hasn’t produced an ERA 4.00 since 2016, and he tied his career-low in strikeouts per nine innings with 7.4.
With some of his stats trending the wrong way, there is no way the Yankees will bring him back anywhere near his 2020 salary of $23 million. There is a lot of value in taking the ball every five days and being somewhat consistent, but Tanaka’s best years are probably behind him.
The Yankees are probably going to want to make a bigger splash in bolstering the rotation than merely re-signing Tanaka, but there may not be many affordable choices. Bringing back Tanaka for an extra year or two, at a much lower salary, might be the safer player, more affordable play.
If the Yankees are in contention this year, as they are sure to be whatever this season may look like, they may look for starting pitchers to acquire through trades, targeting those with an extra year or two left on their deals.
There is a chance the Yankees bring back either Paxton or Tanaka, but it is doubtful they bring back both.