TANAKA SIGNS WITH THE GIANTS

OK, OK, not those Giants, those Giants!

A former Yankees fan-favorite has found a new home. I personally can’t help but smile when thinking about Masahiro Tanaka and his time in the Bronx.  But now after going back to Japan and playing for the Eagles, he is now playing for the Giants.

The Japanese right-hander, who was as steady as they come for the Yankees from 2014 to 2020, has signed with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). If you’re wondering, yes, the Giants are basically Japan’s version of the Yankees—big city, big media market, and a whole lot of championships (22, to be exact). If there’s anyone who knows how to pitch under bright lights and relentless expectations, it’s Tanaka. Tokyo Dome? Child’s play for a guy who handled Yankee Stadium.

Tanaka’s career has been a full-circle masterpiece. He started with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, where he spent 11 seasons combined, debuting at just 18 years old and winning Rookie of the Year in 2007. Fast forward to 2013, and he was simply untouchable, going 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA (video game numbers) and earning MVP honors. That led him straight to New York, where he quickly became a workhorse and a postseason hero, giving us Yankees fans years of clutch performances and calm, stoic dominance—always with the vibe that he could handle anything and then back to Japan with the Eagles.

And now he continues, headed to the Giants. Tanaka was one of those players you just appreciated—the guy you trusted on the mound no matter the moment. Yankees fans will always tip their caps to him, and we’ll be rooting from afar as he writes his next chapter.

Go get ’em,