Tanaka returns to Japan on 2 year deal

Does this mean he's heading back to Japan?   

From a CBS article:

Tanaka has passed every "can he handle New York?" test you could throw at a player, and he's been a steady source of innings the last five years. The Yankees could use an innings guy and they know Tanaka better than any team, and yet they seem to be moving on. That's a red flag, no? Their evaluation could be completely wrong, but it would give me pause if I were another club.

The Yankees could still bring Tanaka back, of course, but one of three things would need to happen to make it work:

Tanaka takes an enormous discount to fit under the luxury-tax threshold.
The Yankees shift gears and decide to exceed the luxury-tax threshold.
The Yankees trade someone to clear money to fit Tanaka (Adam Ottavino?).

I'm not sure any of that is likely now. I don't get the sense Tanaka wants to bounce from MLB team to MLB team at this point of his career, but that doesn't mean he's willing to take a huge discount either. Spending over the threshold now after passing up other opportunities earlier this offseason (Francisco Lindor?) would be a surprise, and good luck shedding salary in a trade.

New York's actions are that of a team that has decided to move on from Tanaka despite their rotation needs and despite the seven strong seasons he gave them. Re-signing Tanaka would have been the safest move, and instead the Yankees went after Kluber and Taillon, who carry injury concerns but also possession greater upside. Tanaka and Kluber/Taillon are almost polar opposites.

Yea I dunno they act like they are short on money, but at the same time I guess I do get the uncertainty of will fans be at the stadium or will this be another huge revenue loss season, however, teams have started to make moves and you don't want to get behind either. The roster looks fine its not like its bad just so much uncertainty and still not sure they've sold the loss of Kahnle problem in the bullpen.

I mean is Green, Britton, Chapman with a bunch of ???? as strong as before. I still feel like they are missing a piece there.

The Yankees did a great getting under the tax cap a couple of years ago and then blew it up with the Stanton trade and by spending an extraordinary amount on their bullpen.  

Chapman - 17 million
Britton - 13 million
Ottavino - 9 million

That's a lot of cash for three relievers.  

All three of those guys have a lot of mileage on them, too. I was especially concerned when they signed Ottavino, though his prime stated very late. I think Britton’s mileage plays the best the best because he seems wide open to using his curveball more to adapt if he drops a bit of his giddyap on the sinker... We could use a bit of youth that could slide into the late innings mix... We’ve tried to get Loasiaga to that point, but he hasn’t reacted well to that type of responsibility... Some times it seems so easy for other teams to just call a fireballed up from AAA and stick him in the game in inning 7-8-9 and they blow people away. But... NY is NY, and it’s a different animal...

I feel like they would need to move ottavino for any chance.

. One game basically killed Ottavino in 2020. I think he’s all right... Take that game away and you have a 2.98 ERA...