The New York Yankees would meet with their top target, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, on Monday, but the meeting will not take place in the Big Apple.
According to the New York Post, Yankees officials will travel to Los Angeles on Monday to meet with the superstar they hope to sign with them and add Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole to their rotation. With Shohei Ohtani agreeing to a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the free agent market is expected to take off and Yamamoto will be one of the beneficiaries. The Post also reported that Yamamoto’s deal, along with the billing fee for his Nippon Professional Baseball team, the Orix Buffaloes, could exceed $300 million. The Yankees were among 14 teams who spoke via Zoom or phone with Yamamoto and his representatives a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen flew to Japan to meet Yamamoto. This week, Yamamoto is expected to meet with the teams he considers finalists after the initial meetings. He has until January 4 to reach an agreement after being posted online by Orix. Whoever signs Yamamoto will get a rare player, one who has won three Pacific League MVP awards as well as three consecutive Sawamura Awards, 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 and struck out 169 batters in 164 innings. He threw his second career no-hitter, pitching in the Japan Series, where he struck out 14 batters in Game 6, setting a series record. Yamamoto has a record of 70-29. He has a mid-90s fastball, but is best known for his array of hard-hitting pitches that can confound hitters. He also won gold medals for Japan at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
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