Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka will not opt out of contract

Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka has decided not to opt out of his contract and will stay with the Yankees for the next three seasons, the veteran pitcher said in a statement.

Tanaka will make $67 million from 2018-20. He had signed a seven-year, $155 million deal back in 2014.

“It was a simple decision for me as I have truly enjoyed the past four years playing for this organization and the wonderful fans of New York,” Tanaka said. “I’m excited to continue to be part of this team, and I’m committed to our goal of bringing a World Series Championship to the Steinbrenner family, the Yankees organization and the great fans of New York.”

According to Jon Morosi of MLB Network, the 29-year-old Tanaka had “weighed” the biggest pro of having a “possible postseason value bump” versus the biggest con of there being a “risk of other teams’ reservations about partial UCL tear” in his elbow. Tanaka allowed two runs in 20 innings pitched across three starts while helping the Yankees beat the Indians in the ALDS in five games and come one win from beating the Astros in the ALCS before they lost in Game 7. During the regular season, Tanaka went 13-12 with a 4.74 ERA while notching a career-high 194 strikeouts.

With Tanaka coming back, the Yankees will have him, Luis Severino, Sonny Gray and Jordan Montgomery for their rotation in 2018. C.C. Sabathia is a free agent, but the Yankees may try to sign him to a short-term deal after also having a great postseason.