Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka feels cheated by Astros' sign-stealing
TAMPA, Fla. — CC Sabathia is not the only member of the 2017 Yankees to feel “cheated” out of a World Series title.
“Yeah, I do feel that way,” Masahiro Tanaka said through his interpreter late Monday morning after working out at the Yankees’ minor-league complex. “I do feel that way.”
The recently retired Sabathia, during his R2C2 podcast with broadcaster Ryan Ruocco last month, was the first member of the Yankees team that lost to the Astros in seven games in the 2017 ALCS to publicly express his anger.
Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner, at last week’s owners’ meetings in Orlando, said the same thought ran through his head when Major League Baseball announced its findings in January regarding the Astros and the illegal sign-stealing scheme employed in 2017 and into 2018.
It is sure to be topic No. 1 for the Yankees this week when pitchers and catchers report for spring training Wednesday, and it will get another thorough examination when the full squad follows shortly thereafter.
The Yankees also lost to the Astros in six games in the 2019 ALCS. While MLB said in its report that it did not find evidence of the Astros’ sign-stealing program continuing in 2019, good luck finding anyone with the Yankees — or across the sport in general — who truly believes Houston suddenly stopped what it was doing.
Tanaka indicated that Yankees pitchers entered last year’s ALCS on high alert, essentially assuming the Astros were still up to something. Maybe not utilizing the trash can-banging strategy highlighted by MLB, but something nonetheless.
“We were being cautious about it going into the playoff games last year,” Tanaka said. “So just changing up the signs, making it a little bit more complex and all that.”
And some of that preparation came to Tanaka’s mind when he heard about the penalties commissioner Rob Manfred handed down to the Astros.
“There was a little bit of thought of, ‘Was there something going on?’ ” Tanaka said of the playoff precautions. “And once you hear the news, then it’s like, ‘Oh, there was something going on.’ ”
Tanaka said what bothers him the most was the Astros being so brazen about breaking the rules.
“It’s a competition and the competition should be a fair competition, so that’s what should go on in the game,” he said. “That’s how I feel about the whole thing.”
Tanaka did well in his two postseason starts at Minute Maid Park. He allowed two runs in six innings in a 2-1 loss to the Astros in Game 1 of the 2017 ALCS and allowed one hit in six innings in the Yankees’ 7-0 win in Game 1 last October.
Tanaka, who took the loss in Game 4 of the series at the Stadium, went 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA in three playoff starts in 2019, furthering his reputation as the Yankees’ postseason ace (in eight career postseason starts, he is 5-3 with a 1.76 ERA).
But with the signing of Gerrit Cole to a nine-year, $324 million contract during the offseason, there no longer will be any debate about who will start the biggest Yankees games of the 2020 season and, presumably, beyond.
“Awesome, absolutely awesome,” Tanaka said of Cole’s signing. “Definitely a huge plus for the team. And I think it will be a big plus for me as well, just being able to see a pitcher of that caliber closely. To see what he does, how he goes about his stuff. I think I will benefit from that as well.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
More Yankees headlines
