New York Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka urged Japanese baseball’s two-way phenom Shohei Otani to head to the majors as soon as possible if he wants to land the best deal he can.

“If you have what it takes, I think the younger you are the better contract you get,” Tanaka said Tuesday, referring to the 22-year-old Pacific League MVP. “I feel the same way as the fans do.”

On Monday, Otani got the nod from the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters to put him up for bidding to major league clubs through the posting system as early as next offseason. He re-signed with the Japan Series champions for 2017 at ¥270 million ($2.37 million), up ¥70 million from the previous year.

Should Otani move to the majors next winter, he will earn far more than ¥270 million per season. Tanaka was posted by the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and signed a seven-year, $155 million with the Yankees two years ago, when he was 25.

Tanaka is working out together with Otani this offseason and raved about the progress the sweet-hitting flamethrower has made in four years with the Fighters.

“He was good, just as I expected,” Tanaka said. “There’s no comparing him physically with how he was in his rookie year, when I pitched against him.”