Masahiro Tanaka bid farewell to his former Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles teammates on Thursday ahead of the club's departure for spring training in Okinawa.
Tanaka, who just signed a seven-year deal with the New York Yankees worth $155 million, has been working out at Kobo Stadium's indoor facility this winter. There, he met skipper Senichi Hoshino and his former teammates.
After years of going with the Eagles to Kumejima island, Tanaka will instead have his spring training in Florida.
"I'm going to need to do my best so I can have something good to report after the season," Tanaka said.
The Yankees pitchers and catchers will report to camp in Tampa on Feb. 15.