Masahiro Tanaka, the New York Yankees back-of-rotation starter who will take the mound at Rogers Centre tonight with the eyes of the baseball world watching, cost them $175-million. The Toronto Blue Jays No.5 starter cost them a wing-and-a-prayer.
A home opener can’t help but be a time for optimism. More than 50,000 people will pack the Rogers Centre to greet their team after a never-ending winter. But reality has a habit of punching hard. In their quest to end two decades without a playoff appearance The Blue Jays and general manager Alex Anthopoulos opted to stand pat when it came to their most pressing need: a reliable arm or two who could help lower their starters’ ERA from 4.81, 14th in the American League.
So tonight Jays fans get treated to Dustin McGowan, a fantastic story but a complete question mark as an MLB performer. The 32-year-old has made just four starts in the past five seasons since he began the merry-go-round of surgeries and rehab assignments that turned him from an elite prospect to an eternal question mark. Meanwhile the Yankees, who missed the playoffs last year for just the second time in 19 seasons, opened their wallet. In addition to Tanaka, the Yankees committed $153-million to outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, $85-million to catcher Brian McCann and $45-million to slugger Carlos Beltran, which adds up to roughly $458-million for four players.
Tanaka, the prize, will make his much anticipated MLB debut tonight. The Blue Jays were reportedly willing to pay the $US20-million fee if they were able to successfully negotiate a deal with Tanaka, who posted a 24-0 record and 1.27 ERA for the Ratuken Golden Eagles last season.
“I know they’re feeling around to see what’s going on with him,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said in January. “But I think most of the teams out there at least put out some feelers for him. (Tanaka) is going to make a lot of money, I know that.”
Gibbons was correct and the Blue Jays were never seriously in the running. Reports in Japan suggested five teams made a formal offer to Tanaka, the Blue Jays – perhaps because they knew their self-imposed five-year limit on contracts – were not among them.
Tanaka can opt out of his seven-year, $155-million deal after four seasons. All that money buys no guarantees, although Tanaka’s spring training couldn’t have been more encouraging: he allowed just five earned runs in 21 innings pitched; striking out 26 while walking just three. Can Tanaka deliver even with all the hype?
He’s not without warts. The Japanese system has no qualms about pushing pitchers to the limit at a young age. In the 2006 Koshien, the national high school tournament that is the equivalent of March Madness for the way it grips the nation for weeks at a time, Tanaka threw 32.2 innings over four games in the first 10 days, despite being so sick he needed intravenous fluids, according to a recent New York Times feature. He then threw 165 pitches; 12 in a 15-inning epic that ended in a tie before coming on in relief the next day — in the first inning! – and going the distance again.
Perhaps unsurprisingly he’s had some shoulder problems in his seven seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball League but his performance last season was one of the best ever in that league. Meanwhile Texas Rangers stud Yu Darvish – another high profile Japanese free agent pitcher the Blue Jays shied away from – had a similar career path in Japan but has been one of the most dominant and durable pitchers in baseball through two MLB seasons.
But the Tanaka-McGowan matchup is less about who pitches well tonight. A strong showing by McGowan can’t help but touch the hearts of anyone who appreciates someone being rewarded for their perseverance and would also bode well for a Jays season that could well balance on his ability to be the regular MLB starter he was projected to be before injuries hit.
And Tanaka can only be evaluated after a full season, which will be a better time to indicate whether the Yankees will get a return on their investment. But regardless how one game turns out, riveting as the storylines are for both men and both teams, the dye has already been cast.
The Yankees, faced with slippage in decades of nearly unbroken excellence spared nothing in making sure it didn’t happen again. The Blue Jays, coming off their 20th straight season of disappointment, offer only hope.