Yankees Q&A: Masahiro Tanaka
Masahiro Tanaka of the New York Yankees during ALDS Game 4 on Oct. 9, 2017. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Masahiro Tanaka stayed with the Yankees rather than opting out of the final three years and $67 million of his contract. With the help of translator Shingo Horie, Tanaka talked to Newsday during spring training.
Q: Was there ever a point this offseason where you were close to opting out and testing the free-agent market?
A: You sort of weigh your options, and obviously testing the free-agent market was an option for me. I did talk about that with my agent. But I came to the conclusion fairly quickly of staying with the team.
Q: With the way the free-agent market unfolded — with players signing highly reduced deals or not getting jobs at all — how do you feel about your decision now?
A: No one knew the free-agent market would turn out this way. So my thought process was, ‘OK, I want to stay with this team.’ That was my main thought process. So just looking at it right now, it’s like, ‘Man, what’s going on with this free-agent market?’ So I guess it just worked out that way.”
Q: You are followed around by the Japanese media on a daily basis. When you were growing up in Japan, did you follow the exploits of Japanese athletes playing in America with the same intensity as you are followed today?
A: I can’t really recall following anybody when I was younger only because I don’t think the Internet was as common as it is right now. You really didn’t have ways to look into that information on athletes and how they are doing overseas.
Q: Do you have a sense of how popular you are in Japan while playing here?
A (from Horie): Yes, he does. (Tanaka laughs.)
A (from Tanaka): I guess you feel a sense of that more when you go back to Japan. Once you come here, even though with the Internet and everything, it’s still a long ways and you’re kind of — not left out, but not as keen as to what’s going on in Japan. You get a sense of that once you’re back in Japan.
Q: What’s one thing you like about living in New York?
A: What you realize going into my fifth year is how passionate the fans are. I really didn’t recognize that until after the postseason last year where we went that far and were able to do pretty well during the playoffs. People in the street just kind of come up to you and say hi to you and I guess appreciate what you’ve done for the city, how you’ve contributed to the city. So you get more of a sense of that, and that’s something that I didn’t realize before last postseason.
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
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