The New York Yankees have met with top target Yoshinobu Yamamoto twice so far in free agency. After a year of investing, scouting and meeting with the 25-year-old pitcher, the time has come for him to make a decision about his baseball future.
And the Yankees are certainly contenders, according to a former baseball general manager. Jim Bowden, previously the general manager of three major league teams, now works for The Athletic. On X (formerly Twitter), he provided an update on what he was hearing on the field when it came to Yamamoto’s free agency. Based on what he hears, the Yankees are one of the two favorites to land Yamamoto, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Bowden also expects the Yankees’ rivals, the New York Mets or San Francisco Giants, to make the highest bid for the right-hander. He also named the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays as “back-burner” teams.From an economic perspective, he expects Yamamoto to get a deal in the range of $250 million to $300 million, which could last 8 to 12 years, considering that the costs of outsourcing his Nippon Professional Baseball Club, the Orix Buffaloes, would be around around 250 dollars, for a total of 300 dollars. millions. $50 million. The wild card is what Yamamoto values: money, team situation, both, or other factors? Yamamoto has until January 4 to reach an agreement. Bowden expects to reach a deal this week. Whoever signs Yamamoto will get a rare player, one who has won three consecutive Pacific League MVP awards, along with three consecutive Sawamura awards, in the Japanese Cy Young. He is only the third player to win an MVP award three consecutive years in NPB, joining Ichiro Suzuki and Hisashi Yamada. In 2023, Yamamoto went 16-6 with a 1.21 ERA, striking out 169 batters in 164 innings. He pitched his second career no-hitter and pitched the Japan Series, where he struck out 14 batters in Game 6, setting a Series record. Yamamoto has a record of 70-29. He possesses a fastball in the mid-90s, but is best known for a series of breaking pitches that can confuse hitters. He also won gold medals for Japan at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
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