How much is Masahiro Tanaka worth?
| Net Worth: | $75 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Baseball Player |
| Date of Birth: | November 1, 1988 |
| Country: | Japan |
| Height: | 1.91 m |
About Masahiro Tanaka
Japanese professional baseball player Masahiro Tanaka has an estimated net worth of $75 million dollars, as of 2023. Tanaka is a baseball player for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball. From 2007 through 2013, he played for the Eagles in NPB.
- Born: Nov. 1, 1988
- Hometown: Itami, Japan
- Height, weight: 6-2, 205
- Position: Starting pitcher
- Bats/throws: Right/right
- Teams: New York Yankees (2013)
- How acquired: Signed by the Yankees as a free agent on Jan. 22, 2014
Career highlights
- Tanaka received the largest contract for an international free agent in Major League Baseball history, agreeing to a seven-year, $155 million deal. The Yankees also had to pay a $20 million posting fee to Tanaka’s Japanese team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles.
- Tanaka was 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA and 0.94 WHIP for Rakuten of the Japanese Pacific League. He started 27 games, tossed eight complete games and had a pair of shutouts. He struck out 183 batters in 212 innings.
- He led the Golden Eagles to the 2013 Japan Series title. Counting the postseason, Tanaka was an unbelievable 30-0.
- In his Japanese career, he was 99-35 with a 2.30 ERA in seven seasons. He threw 1,315 innings and fanned 1,238 — 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
- In 2012, he was 10-4 with a 1.88 ERA. He started 22 contests, had eight complete games and threw 173 innings (almost eight per start). He posted a 1.03 WHIP and struck out 169 in 173 innings.
- Tanaka was 19-5 with a 2.95 ERA in 2011. He struck out a career-high 241 batters in 226 1/3 innings and had a 0.87 WHIP. He also won the Sawamura Award, which goes to the top starting pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball. Tanaka won the award again after his perfect 2013 campaign.
- Tanaka’s last three seasons in Japan were almost too good to be true. From 2011 to 2013, he was a combined 53-9 with a 1.44 ERA. In that span, he started 73 games, and he went the distance in 30 contests. He also tossed 11 shutouts, had a 0.94 WHIP and struck out 593 batters in 611 1/3 innings.
- He was a five-time Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star in Japan and won the Pacific League Rookie of the Year Award in 2007, when he was only 18. That season, he was 11-7 with a 3.82 ERA and 196 Ks in 186 1/3 innings.
- His three “worst” seasons in Japan were 2008, ’09 and ’10. In 2008, he was 9-7 with a 3.90 ERA — the only time in his Japanese career in which he failed to win 10 games. The following season, he was 15-6 with a 4.03 ERA. In 2010, he was 11-6 with a 3.94 ERA.
- Tanaka signed the fifth-largest contract ever for an MLB starting pitcher. At the time of his signing, the only pitchers who had received bigger deals in baseball history were Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers (seven years, $215 million), Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers (seven years, $180 million), the Seattle Mariners’ Felix Hernandez (seven years, $175 million) and fellow Yankee CC Sabathia (seven years, $161 million).
- Tanaka’s contract includes an out clause after the 2017 season. The deal includes annual salaries of $22 million in each of the first six seasons (2014-19) and $23 million in 2020.
- Tanaka’s wife is famous Japanese singer Mai Satoda.
- He played for Japan in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
