The New York Yankees have named their Opening Day starter and it's not the lefty who has taken the hill over the past six years. Also, Forbes magazine ranked the richest baseball franchises, and it's pretty obvious where the Yankees fall.
Masahiro Tanaka will get the nod on Apr. 6 against the Toronto Blue Jays in the Yankees home opener. The rotation will then follow with outings from Michael Pineda, CC Sabathia and Nathan Eovaldi, as manager Joe Girardi has still yet to choose the team's fifth starter. Tanaka spoke shortly after receiving the news.
"I'm honored, obviously," Tanaka said through an interpreter, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. "I spoke with Joe earlier today and he told me officially. Now that I know when I'm pitching for the season, my job is to get ready for that day."
Tanaka's progress since suffering a partially torn UCL in July has went well and he was able to squeeze in two starts before the 2014 season ended. He rested in the offseason and worked on building back up his arm strength and has had a successful spring thus far and owns a 1.74 ERA, 0.68 WHIP and 12 strikeouts in three starts (10 1/3 innings). The 26-year-old was on his way to becoming an AL Cy Young candidate before the injury last season, so his health will be a big topic in 2015.
As for the team as a whole, Forbes magazine published new valuations of baseball franchises this week. The Yankees were valued at $3.2 billion and the richest in baseball, beating out the Los Angeles Dodgers ($2.4 billion), Boston Red Sox ($2.1 billion) and San Francisco Giants ($2 billion).
New York matched the Dallas Cowboys for the richest sports franchise in the United States and the two teams are only behind Real Madrid ($3.44 billion) for tops in the world. Additionally, Forbes found the average MLB team is worth $1.2 billion, which is a 48% increase from last season and a new record, thanks to the league's national TV deal that will rake in an average of $52 million per club.
And for some perspective, George Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees for $10 million in 1973.
