Yoshinobu Yamamoto: Dodgers Thinking About $300 Million Bonus Offer
For starters, the Los Angeles Dodgers want to add Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They have already signed Shohei Ohtani and traded for Tyler Glasnow.
The right-hander has about two weeks left to sign with a team, but he or she is likely to make a choice by Christmas Day or soon after.
Reports say that teams that are interested were told to send in their latest proposals this week, since the process is coming to an end.
Yamamoto might sign one the biggest deals ever for a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball history.
Gerrit Cole set the record when he signed a $324 million, nine-year deal involving the New York Yankees within December 2019.
The Dodgers, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets were thought to be the favorites for signing Yamamoto up to this point.
But other big-market teams, like the Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants, are still in the running.
The two-way star will be paid just $2 million a year for the rest of the deal. This means that the team can use the extra money to trade for or sign other top players.
In the past two weeks, Yamamoto has met with teams, such as the Dodgers, and has even taken a tour about Dodger Stadium. Player like Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, as well as Ohtani were there for the visit.
That Ohtani was added is said to be important because he and Yamamoto are friends because they are both Japanese and will be playing together upon Team Japan during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
According to CBS Sports, Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the No. 2 free agent this winter. He is still weighing his choices before his Jan. 4 deadline to sign a contract.
That honor now goes to Masahiro Tanaka or the $155 million deal he signed for the New York Yankees in January 2014.
Every one of Major League Baseball’s big teams are thought to want to add him to their rotation, but the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Mets, and the New York Yankees are usually seen as the favorites.
Last week, we talked about why teams are so interested in Yamamoto. In fact, several league sources stated that they think the price will go over $300 million, which would be the highest amount ever paid for an overseas pitcher.
In short, that piece says the following: Yamamoto, who is 25 years old, has done amazing things that have never been done before in the history of Nippon Professional Baseball.
Aside from that, Yamamoto has virtually every of the qualities that MLB talent scouts look for in first-string players.
He currently has a good package that includes a fastball in the mid-1990s, a splitter that you have to swing and miss, and a beautiful curveball.
There is a long history in Japanese pitchers making it in Major League Baseball, which makes the case for investing as much money as necessary to get him this summer.
We’re going to do something different today. In the business world, you may have heard of the “red team” idea. In simple terms, they’re a way to put ideas and thoughts to the test under stress.
If, after poking many holes to an idea as you can, you persist in believing it’s worth following, then you should probably go ahead with it. It must be a good idea for it to have stood the test of time.
The Philadelphia Phillies’ offer is unknown at this time, but a source told Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times that the Dodgers are thinking about making an offer of $250 million with $300 million for Yamamoto.
Andy Martino of SNY says that Mets owner Steve Cohen is “currently in the process of submitting a very serious offer” to Yamamoto.
Because of the way Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million deal is set up, the Dodgers have the money to sign Yamamoto.
The right-hander allegedly asked the Mets along with Yankees for second meetings last weekend.
The Red Sox, Blue Jays, Giants, or Phillies are also said to be interested in Yamamoto. The Dodgers and those teams are seen as the front runners for the job.