The New York Yankees are reportedly taking a big step toward potentially signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto this week.
Now that Shohei Ohtani has completed his big foray into free agency this weekend with a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, more big rocks are likely to fall. And after the reigning American League MVP, there may be no bigger member of this year’s free agent board than Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The 25-year-old has yet to throw a single pitch in the MLB, but after winning three MVP awards in Japan’s top baseball league, there has been an absurd amount of hype surrounding the Orix Buffaloes star. Since starting pitching is always very expensive, almost half the league has expressed interest, including many major clubs. One of the organizations Yamamoto is pursuing is the Yankees. The Pinstripes already made one of the biggest splashes of the offseason when they made a blockbuster trade for All-Star Juan Soto. However, an impact arm behind reigning American Cy Young Gerrit Cole was a top priority this winter.But they will have to compete for Yamamoto against the endless wealth of rivals, the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Mets reportedly made great progress when owner Steve Cohen traveled to Japan two weeks ago to meet in person with the pitcher and his representative. To show how serious he was in signing the best pitcher. On Monday, however, the Americans will have the opportunity to get back into the swing of things.SNY announced today that the organization will hold its own meeting with Yamamoto on Monday, during which general manager Briand Cashman and owner Hal Steinbrenner will explain why he needs to play in the Bronx next season. There have been rumors that former Yankees Hideki Matsui and Masahiro Tanaka might attend a reunion, but that would be false. SNY MLB insider Andy Martino also reported in recent days that the Yankees “are in a strong position to win Yamamoto in this one.”
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