Ron Antonelli/New York Daily News
Masahiro Tanaka’s future is so bright, Brian Cashman has to wear shades. But the Yankees GM tries to temper expectations by saying the Japanese ace is the team’s No. 3 starter.
In a gallant effort to lower expectations for his $ 155 million man (and not hurt CC Sabathia’s feelings by prematurely dumping him as ace of the staff), Brian Cashman said he views Masahiro Tanaka as a No. 3 starter.
Number three in the mind of the GM until further notice. Yet no matter how high Cashman reaches to lower the bar, the media will push it higher. Remember, Cashman ain’t that tall. He can’t jump, either.
His new righthander will be on his own, and on display, when he gets his first whiff of scrutiny Tuesday at the Stadium during Tanaka’s introductory session with notebooks and cameras.
“I’ve heard that the New York media can be severe,” Tanaka recently told the Japan Times through an interpreter. “But I don’t want to be overly concerned about what’s going on around me. I would rather focus on the things I need to do.”
Good luck with that, pal.
Even his trip to the Bronx was put under the microscope. Did you know Tanaka chartered his own Boeing 787 Dreamliner to fly here? The plane usually seats 200. Tanaka had a party of five, including his wife, Mai Satoda, and his dog, a brown toy poodle.
The trip wasn’t all cushy. Because of some major snow, Tanaka’s ride from the middle of Tokyo to Narita airport, 90 minutes away, took more than eight hours.
At least he will be used to the weather, and the traffic, when he gets here. Seriously though, his arrival at the Stadium could not come at a better time for the Yankees. Absolutely nothing is ever won or lost at a press conference but perceptions are formed, creating momentum.
Face it, none of the Bombers offseason marquee acquisitions — not Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury or Carlos Beltran — generated significant media buzz during their Stadium coming-out parties.
None of these players produced the kind of anticipation needed to cause a stampede to the box office or a just-can’t-wait feeling to watch the Bombers play on the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network.
Maybe Tanaka, who comes here with built-in mystique and major intrigue, can actually inspire a fan base weary of the Winter of Alex Rodriguez or the endless procession of reports about the Yankees crossing baseball’s $ 189 million luxury tax threshold.
Tanaka, a fresh face and relative mystery man, can serve as a new coat of paint. The anticipation, and circumstances, surrounding the coming of Tanaka are reminiscent of when Hideki Matsui hit town in 2003. Only Godzilla was presented in a much more lavish fashion on that January day.
George Steinbrenner booked a ballroom at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Manhattan, where an SRO crowd of more than 300 members of the press (75-80% from Japan) gathered. Steinbrenner even summoned/ordered Joe Torre, vacationing in Hawaii, to fly in for the event.
Perhaps the organization’s decision to hold Tanaka’s soiree at the more “intimate” Stadium venue is another way of lowering expectations. Either that, or the crew of suits running the Yankees has no sense of showmanship.
Whatever.
The media will fill that void with all the attention it pays to Tanaka. The Yankees used their TV arm (or the little they have left of it since selling 80% of YES to Fox) to bang the drum Monday night, replaying a Tanaka June start for his Rakuten Eagles against the Yomiuri Giants. Tanaka pitched seven scoreless innings.
And how darn shocking to find out none of the YES analysts who commented on it had one bad thing to say about Tanaka. They certainly didn’t mimic Cashman when it comes to lowering expectations.
What will they, and the rest of the Yankeecentric media, say if Tanaka gets off too slowly? There are a few ways to go. They could be patient, saying it is taking longer than expected for Tanaka to adapt (harder mound, throwing a bigger baseball into a smaller strike zone) to pitching in the major leagues. They could play the “culture” card, saying he still needs to acclimate to his new home — or they could take another approach.
That would mean rushing to judgment and pounding Tanaka. Such critiques would likely include the $ 155 million contract (and the added $ 20 million posting fee) and condemn the Yankees for investing foolishly. Would Tanaka react to the criticism by coming undone and going all Eddie Lee Whitson on us?
Of course we are getting way ahead of ourselves here. Did you expect anything different? Tanaka hasn’t even hit Tampa. And his initial words wearing the pinstripes, first filtered through an interpreter before being ultimately interpreted by boss scribes, have not even been voiced.
First words and first impressions are big. Randy Johnson self-destructed the day before his first Stadium press conference when he pushed a TV cameraman. In terms of perception, Johnson never recovered from that moment.
Tanaka will be looking for a much better start.
Even Cashman expects that.
http://ift.tt/1bQg3HF
via Great Local News: New York http://ift.tt/1iZiLP1
No comments:
Post a Comment