Masahiro Tanaka is “at a loss”… Yakult “passes on acquisition” and the situation is tough; former baseball player points out, “It will be sad if he retires like this” Baseball commentator Yutaka Takagi (66), who played for the Yokohama BayStars and Nippon-Ham Fighters in professional baseball, updated his YouTube channel by December 11, 2024, and expressed his opinion on the future of pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (36), who became a free agent from Rakuten. ■ “I think it’s about time to make a decision” Tanaka updated his YouTube channel on November 24th and announced that he would not be signing a contract with Rakuten next season. On the 26th, he responded to media interviews and explained in his own words why he left Rakuten. On December 2nd, the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB) announced the list of players on hold for the 2025 season. Tanaka, who was not listed on the roster, became a free agent, but there appears to have been no movement regarding a transfer since then. According to a sports newspaper report, Tanaka responded to a media interview on the 8th and said, “There’s nothing in particular I can say” about his future. In this situation, Takagi said, “Sometimes it takes a long time. I think it’s about time it was decided, but it would be tough if there wasn’t one,” he said frankly. Yakult was mentioned as a possible destination for Tanaka, but according to sports newspaper reports, Yakult decided not to acquire Tanaka. Regarding this report, Takagi explained the situation on the Yakult team as follows. “When you look at the contract renewals of young players at Yakult, they’re expecting things like salary increases for players like Yamano (Taichi). Also, there is Ishikawa (Masanori), and I would like to help him achieve 200 wins somehow. Ma-kun is just three wins away from reaching 200 career wins. It’s tough to have two. This means that we have to provide such a space. Ishikawa is a great contributor to Yakult, and although I want to help him achieve this as an honor, I have no connection to Ma-kun.” “It would probably be best for him to return to Rakuten, but as a man I can’t go back.” Then he mentioned the pitching situation of the 12 teams in the Central and Pacific Leagues, including Rakuten. “Even if you look at the 12 teams, there aren’t many that are so thin on the pitching staff that they want even one more player. If I had to say, it would be Rakuten. Rakuten wants a pitcher. Although he does leave and come back sometimes. Considering that, it would be best for him to return to Rakuten, but as a man, I can’t go back.” While Yakult has passed on acquiring Tanaka, other teams are sticking to a wait-and-see approach. Takagi analyzed the reasons why each team was reluctant to acquire Tanaka as follows: “I’ve been back in Japan and I’ve had losing seasons every year. This is where the team really draws the line. Even if they don’t win 10 games, if they always win at least three games, I would be interested in taking them, but they’re all losing, so it’s probably better to give the younger players a chance.” Tanaka returned to his former team, Rakuten, from the New York Yankees in the 2020 offseason. In his first season in 2021, he had 4 wins and 9 losses. In the ’22 season, they also had a losing record of 9 wins and 12 losses, and in the ’23 season, they had a record of 7 wins and 11 losses. In the 2012 season, due to the effects of “right elbow arthroscopic cleaning surgery” he underwent in October 2011, he only made one appearance for the first team, against Orix on September 28th. Regarding Tanaka’s future, Takagi said, “He probably won’t be able to return to the majors. With these results in Japan. “We’re at a loss as to how to proceed,” he said, “At this stage, there’s been no movement, and it’s tough for the situation to have calmed down to this extent. “It would be sad if he were to retire like this,” he said. Tanaka has recorded a total of 197 wins in Japan and the United States so far, and is just three wins away from reaching the milestone of 200 wins.
I was really surprised when he said “Remember that he turned down a better offer when he returned to Rakuten” – is he really such a jerk to begin with? How dare he act like he’s the one making the decision himself.
>>8>>15 On 5chan and other websites, people were writing things like they were unhappy with the price and it was all about money so I just wanted to say “I don’t decide based on the price alone” At the time, I had no choice due to family circumstances But still.
>>9 Nori-san had the guts to put aside his pride and try to win the contract when it came down to it It was also funny how Black Nori made a comeback afterwards.
>>16 He’s repeatedly commented that Rakuten is no longer with him I don’t think he’ll bow his head after this. If a team has an injury during training camp, isn’t the best they can hope for is a one-off offer depending on the conditions?
Tanaka: “I feel like I’m not expected to play, so I want to play in a place where people expect me to play.” 12 teams: “We don’t have any expectations, though…”
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