Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto is expected to be posted by the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball in the coming months, which will make him one of the top free agents available to major league clubs this winter. The Mets are one of many clubs that have reported interest in him and Will Sammon of The Athletic provides some details of their upcoming courtship.
The Mets already made one big signing of a pitcher making the move from Japan, inking Kodai Senga to a five-year deal less than a year ago. That deal is looking good for the club right now, with Senga being one of the few bright spots during a tough 2023 season. He made 29 starts and threw 166 1/3 innings, finishing the year with an earned run average of 2.98.
Yamamoto is expected to be an even more appealing investment than Senga, due to a couple of factors. Senga had an ERA of 2.59 in his NPB career before coming to North America, whereas Yamamoto has a mark of 1.82. Senga dropped his ERA to 1.94 in his final NPB season but Yamamoto’s has landed at 1.21. Furthermore, Senga made the move for his age-30 season whereas Yamamoto just turned 25.
Sammon makes reference to a piece by his colleague Ken Rosenthal, who reported in April that some people in the league think that Japanese players don’t like being on the same team as other Japanese players. This seems like an absurd assertion given that NPB teams are composed primarily of Japanese players and Japanese clubs have also performed extremely well in international play, with their World Baseball Classic triumph earlier this year giving them a third title out of the five times the tournament has been held. Regardless of the merits of that line of thinking, Sammon reports that it wouldn’t apply here, with Yamamoto having no reservations about wearing the same uniform as Senga. Furthermore, Senga has openly told Mets’ management that he wants Yamamoto on the team. Sammon also reports that Yamamoto wants to play in a large market, which should work in the Mets’ favor.
Sammon goes on to address the departure of Billy Eppler, who was with the Yankees when they signed Masahiro Tanaka and with the Angels when they signed Shohei Ohtani. This may have helped him and the Mets in getting Senga aboard, but Eppler recently stepped down as general manager, with president of baseball operations David Stearns now the primary baseball decision maker. Whether the transition from Eppler to Stearns has any impact on the pursuit of Yamamoto isn’t really known.
Beyond those factors, the financials will undoubtedly be significant. Given Yamamoto’s youth and talent, it’s expected by many that he could get himself a lengthy contract with a guarantee in the range of $200MM. That gives an edge to the higher-spending clubs, a group that certainly includes the Mets, with owner Steve Cohen allowing the 2023 club to have the highest payroll in baseball history.
One thing that arguably undercuts the connection to the Mets is that the club is giving hints they won’t be as aggressive this offseason. If the team is planning a sort of reset year after the disappointing 2023 campaign, giving the new president time to assess the organization and build the farm system, then landing one of the top free agents would seem to be a bit incongruous.
But the club does need starting pitching, having dealt away Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer at the deadline. Carlos Carrasco is also about to hit free agency, leaving the club with a rotation of Senga, José Quintana and a few question marks beyond that. Quintana only has one year left on his deal, creating further uncertainty down the line. The position player prospects in the Mets’ system are also generally regarded higher than their pitching prospects. Since Yamamoto is so young, it’s possible the Mets could view this as a rare opportunity to add a pitcher with many prime years remaining, which would push them to make an earnest pursuit and improve their long-term pitching outlook even if the overall offseason plan is going to be less aggressive than it was a year ago.
The Mets making a legitimate run at Yamamoto seems plausible but they figure to have plenty of competition, as he’s already been publicly connected to the Phillies, Giants, Cardinals, Cubs, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Rangers, Tigers, Yankees, and Red Sox.
The Mets need to go get this guy.
As do the Red Sox, Phillies, Yankees, etc.
They do. I also think the non-competitive statements were a ploy to get those no trades waived. Yamamoto and Montgomery would be nice adds. 2024 off season acquire the rest.
These guys end up in large markets most of the time because of the large $$$ involved. The large markets will never support an international draft to give up their advantage and Manfred is in their pocket.
And who pissed in your cereal?
It’s sour grapes because Reds ownership is too cheap and unwilling to spend money even though they could.
I did, it was the only bowl available at the time
You mean the international draft the OWNERS purposed and the players shut down?
It may shock you to know the majority of owners are not in large markets.
STOP LETTING FACTS GET IN THE WAY OF OPINIONS!
@This one belongs to the Reds: And it may shock you, although it shouldn’t, that plenty of owners use being in a so-called “small market” as an excuse to claim they’re losing money, which is true only on tax returns, and to pocket their profits instead of investing in trying to win.
Baron, if you don’t understand that there is a huge difference in income streams between the two, especially concerning the huge difference in income from local TV deals that limits small market budgets, then you are merely a large market apologist like so many on this site.
Given your citing New York in several cases, I am guessing that is the case.
It may shock you, blue baron, but all businesses are in it to make a profit. Even if investing in the business, they still try to make a profit. As it is their company, shouldn’t they be the one taking the profit? Small market doesn’t mean they operate at a loss. It means revenue is lower, so payroll remains lower than big markets. When you’re old enough, I suggest taking a business class.
Ever heard the expression, “have to spend money to make money”?
Take the Cubs example, as much as some fans want to complain about Ricketts being “cheap” he spent over a billion dollars renovating Wrigley, he’s bought up a ton of real estate surrounding Wrigley, the created their own tv network after having awful tv deals under Sell and the Tribune.
The point is, so many small market team sit there and complain about market size instead of improving their marketability. Bad stadiums they refuse to improve with their own money, bad locations that they refuse to improve with their own money, relying on “tv deals” instead of using their money to create their own network and make more money.
I don’t cry for small market teams, it’s their ownerships job to improve their revenue and they don’t but they point the finger at large market teams to pull the wool in front of their fan base and cry “ITS NOT FAIR!”
@This one belongs: Of course there are differences in income streams.
But I also know that MLB franchise values have risen steeply enough that even so-called small market teams like the Reds and Kansas City Royals are valued at around $1.2 billion.
That means the owners of franchises like these aren’t effectively utilizing that value to compete on the field.
Instead, they cry poverty to avoid spending what they can to put more butts in seats.
@stymeedone: I believe my MBA from a university you would only get to see by driving through the campus is sufficient.
The franchises with these lower revenues are still valued at more than $1 billion, so their owners obviously aren’t hurting too badly.
What some are doing is failing to maximize and utilize that value to create the cash flow necessary to try harder to compete on the field.
As far as needing to learn more about business, Pot, meet Kettle.
1-Do you have some support to say the large market owners don’t want a draft?
2-Apparently there was enough support amongst all owners that they made the suggestion to the union.
ALL the owners are Billionaires. They can ALL spend the money. Some just choose not to.
Exactamundo!
They didn’t become billionaires by throwing good money after bad. If their business isn’t covering expenses, they don’t go further in ghe hole. Business 101
But MLB owners don’t have that problem. They use that as an excuse not to spend and to cry poverty during CBA negotiations, especially in their repeated, failed attempts to get a salary cap which only benefits owners at the expense of players and fans.
The only place they show losses is on tax returns due to depreciation of assets.
Tax Accounting 101.
A salary cap doesn’t benefit players and fans? That must be why the NFL is so popular and their players are making so much money.
Definitely a large market bias here.
Of course ALL revenues are shared in the NFL. There are no local TV deals where the income to teams fluctuate wildly. They don’t have to worry about RSNs going bankrupt and halting important income streams. Fans of teams everywhere in the NFL (except where there is incompetent management), even in flyover country, know their teams have a chance at the postseason. There is a reason the national pasttime is not so much anymore, especially in flyover country.
I suppose when you see anyone with a Bally’s deal hesitate to spend this offseason, you’ll say they’re being cheap rather than understandably cautious.
If the salary cap is such a great thing, why does the MLBPA, the strongest and best-run labor organization in professional sports, adamantly and consistently refuse to negotiate for it?
Because it causes player compensation to be a zero-sum proposition by making it a fixed pie, where for one player to make more another must make less.
Bargaining Theory 101.
And being a fixed amount, it prevents player compensation from growing proportionally with industry revenue.
The only reason the other leagues have salary caps is that their unions were too weak, especially in the NBA and NHL, to withstand long management lockouts such that they accepted the terms owners shoved down their throats to return to work.
MLB owners know better than to try such union-busting tactics because they tried it during the 1994-95 strike.
Bud Selig, Jerry Reinsdorf, and a few others thought they could force a salary cap on the MLBPA, but they got their heads handed to them by the NLRB for failing to bargain in good faith and illegally hiring scab replacement players.
The 2022 lockout and CBA negotiations made it clear that the owners don’t have the stomach to possibly cancel an entire season over a salary cap.
Why do you suppose that is? Because they’re making too much money as things are to shut down and alienate fans again.
“NYM won’t be as aggressive” – AS being the telling word. Stearns will be smart
The Mets’ aggressiveness last year included signing every big name SD didn’t get to first. Adding an expensive player or two isn’t the same thing, although I’d like to see him go anywhere other than NY.
What’s it to you whether or not he signs in New York?
Blue – Parity is vital to increasing and then maintaining a sport’s popularity.
The Mets spent $334M this year and the Yankees spent $268M, no other team came within $30M of them.
It’s better for the game if Yamamoto goes to a non-NY team, just like it would be better if he signed with Oakland or Pittsburgh (not that either is a realistic possibility).
That’s your opinion and thanks, but I was asking avenger65 what it is to him.
You can’t answer for him.
First, I hate the Yankees. Second, I’m not a Mets fan or hater, but I’ll always have a place in the bb part of my heart for them for taking the NL title from the cubs and the heel-clicking Ron Santo in 1969.
Blue Baron: Go up three posts for an explanation.
In fairness, i could see some teams value known quantities like nola snell and even montgomery over yamamoto if their focus is shorter term (along w the contract length)
Even w successes like senga (year one), there’s still risk in how japanese SP transition to MLB as not all have seen the type of success that was anticipated
@Avenger the Mets target specific players last year. Senga who they plan on having around as the young players start coming up. Then older players who would take shorter contracts with higher AAVs. Those shorter contracts were aligned to cone off the books just as other contracts such as Marte, Canada, and Escobar would be gone.
Cohen spent big cua he could and in doing so tried to put very expensive temporary plugs in holes while maintaining farm system. Which can’t really blame him, his net worth dwarfs most other owners net worth’s so it had real impact on him. And their future still looks relatively bright in just a few years.
My Tigers have been linked to Yamamoto? Stop laughing; it’s not as implausible as it seems.
Southeastern Michigan has a vibrant Japanese community because of the auto industry. I went to a Tigers-Angels game when Ohtani started,, and the place was full of Japanese families.
Since when does the Detroit area have a Pacific Rim immigrant community? Japanese and Korean automakers have their US plants in the South to take advantage of lower costs.
Every major city has Asian communities.
For The Love…Using that logic, he should sign with Seattle. That area, especially Vancouver, has loads of Asians. Ichiro didn’t seem to mind playing for the M’s his whole MLB career, so it can’t be all that bad.
San Francisco another huge Asian community.
But New York has more than 1.1 million Asians, more than the combined totals of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.
New York is the correct answer.
@avenger65: Baseball Reference is your friend.
If you took a few seconds to check your facts, you would know that Ichiro didn’t play his entire career in Seattle. He played 30% of it, or six of 20 years, in Miami and New York.
“whole MLB career”?
avenger – My friend, Ichiro played for the Yankees and Marlins.
It takes 2 people to make a community so yes technically that’s true. But obviously New York City is a little more Asian than St. Louis.
New York? Must have been before Ichiro knew enough English to know where he was going.
Actually, avenger65, he debuted with the Mariners in 2001 and was traded to the Yankees in July 2012.
Four comments referring to Asian-Americans.
I’m not quite sure what Asians have to do with the discussions. Yamamoto won’t be moving to NYC because of the number of Chinese or Indian residents.
According to Wiki, Asians make up only 1.6% of the population, or roughly 10,119. Of these, the major nationalities are Chinses, Filipino, Korean and Pakistani.
I don’t see anything referring to any sizeable population of Japanese-Americans.
Don’t know the when, but Troy and Sterling Hts, MICHIGAN has a good sized Asian population.
There is a huge Japanese community on the outshirts of Columbus, but I doubt he goes to play for the Clippers!
As a lifelong Metro Detroit resident I ve gotta ask where is this vibrant Japanese community you speak of? I know there’s a decent Polish community in Hamtramck, Arab in Dearborn, Jewish in Southfield, Italian on Eastside, Chaladeans in Madison Heights/SW Sterling Heights, Mexicans in SW Detroit. But not aware of said Japanese community. And having worked quite sometime in auto industry, aside from the occasional engineer I’ve worked with very few people of Japanese heritage in my 20+ years.
If playing in front of Japanese fans is his priority, then why not stay in Japan? He wants the money. That is his priority.
Obviously he wants the $. But having a Japanese teammate(s) and/or a city with a Japanese community would be a comfort factor and help one ree more secure in an absolutey foreign environment.
Yamamoto will be a Dodger. Consider it an MLB NPB trade with the Japanese keeping Trevor Bauer. Dodgers need pitching, age is great, nice fit and if there is an owner that can go toe to toe with Cohen’s wallet, Mark Walter and the Guggenheim group would be that owner.
Wouldn’t surprise me with the Dodgers massive local TV deal. They could outspend anyone.
WampumWalloper Definitely a possibility, but can the Dodgers afford both Ohtani and Yamamoto?
And Cohen could outspend Dodgers with his pocket change.
@WampumWalloper: “Dodgers need pitching.”
Well duh. Every team needs pitching.
You say he will be a Dodger as if you have some kind of inside information, which we know you don’t.
Hey Blue Baron, lighten up dude!
This is a rumors site.
Rumors …”circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth”
The writers are doing just as much guessing as the rest of us. That’s the fun of a rumors site!
If the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets are interested, expect the final number to blow well past $200MM.
Given his age it could easily be 10/250-275 (plus posting fee) with an optout(s) at 3 or 5.
Easily. Considering that the Yankees signed Masahiro Tanaka about ten years ago for 7/$155M with an opt-out at the same age of 25.
“This seems like an absurd assertion given that NPB teams are composed primarily of Japanese players and Japanese clubs have also performed extremely well in international play” this is a misunderstanding of why Japanese players feel that way – there is a pride aspect to being a standout player that makes their own legacy on a team without competing with a fellow countryman. It has nothing to do with getting along with other Japanese players
When the Yankees signed Tanaka, not only was Hiroki Kuroda still on the team but Tanaka refused to take jersey #18 when Kuroda offered it to him. Japanese players not wanting to be on the same team as each other sounds like pure nonsense to me.
It sounds like a rumor a team without a Japanese player tried to spread to dissuade other teams (like the Mets or where ever Ohtani ends up or any other team with a Japanese player) from signing him.
I could see the point made above about “not wanting to take the attention away from a compatriot” but if anything I would imagine having a fellow Japanese player would be more appealing because its someone to bond with because of shared language or experience. Especially if there’s a language barrier, I’d assume already having a player and translator on the team would just be a plus because they would be able to help the communication flow since they’re already familiar with the other players.
JT70: Ohtani has a translator, but he doesn’t need one. He just feels more comfortable speaking Japanese during interviews. I don’t know if I buy the premise of NPB players wanting to be the star of the show being the only NPB player on a team. What if Puerto Ricans or players from the Dominican Republic felt that way? We’d have a lot of pretty thin teams.
so you are saying that for some reason every non white culture is the same?
Spreading them out also helps the league get more fans from overseas too. If they play on different teams they’ll presumably get more views league wide
As a black guy who’s gotten compared to “the other black guy” plenty of times, I absolutely understand how being on an American team with 2 Japanese players is very different from being on a Japanese team with 20 Japanese players.
I’d say that foreign players would likely prefer playing with others of same nationality for a sense of comfort. These are players playing and living in a foreign land. That would definitely push most anyone out of their comfort zone. Having a player they could relate to would help ease that, that is just human nature and its part of the tribal aspect woven in our DNA.
Biggest thing working against the Mets is Shohei and the Angels.
Mets have shown *nothing* to make a player think they can win. Even with a ludicrous payroll they didn’t win anything, or even come close, and, have since blown apart large pieces of that team.
Any Japanese player saw Shohei trapped on an angels squad that took a good chunk of his best years and squandered them for nothing. Given the competitive nature of many of their best players, thats now a cautionary tale when signing.
The Mets had a bad year, the year before they won 101 games, this isn’t the Pirates we’re talking about. Cohen has owned the team for 2 years.
“They won 101 games” while choking away the NL East and then getting smoked in the wild card round.
Basically like the rays did… and for all intents and purposes, the braves and orioles, just a round later
Its the postseason… it happens
Ma4170: Which is why the only PO should be the WS. The Braves and Orioles worked for 162 games to have the best records in their respective leagues, then they lose in a five game series. Those two teams should have faced each other in the Was. They earned it.
The Mets have shown nothing to make a player think they can win.
Unless you consider winning 101 games in 2022, an owner worth $19.8 billion who is investing heavily in analytics, scouting, and player development as well as a generous MLB payroll, and a top-10 farm system.
Other than those little things, they’ve shown nothing to make a player think they can win.
I wouldn’t consider that a cautionary tale. There was no way to predict that the Angels would miss the playoffs all 6 years, They had Trout and a top-10 payroll. That’s the way things break sometimes. That could happen to any team.
Past that, I’d rely on Cohen’s wallet to get them in the playoffs more often than not.
JoeBrady: I don’t know all of what happened since the Angels signed Ohtani. I don’t know if Moreno was reluctant to build around him and Trout, hoping those two could get it done, which is ridiculous even though I still consider Trout the best player in bb. I know Moreno at least made an effort at the deadline this year by trading for players that should have performed better than they did. A little too late to get into the PO. But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Angels fell short the last six years. White Sox owner Reinsdorf likes to bring up all the money he’s spent, but he spent it wrong. Maybe that’s the case with Moreno, who also seems to be making deals instead of a bb man.
@avenger
Morena buys two or three very pretty baubles (Trout’s extension, Ohtani & Rendon) and plants them on a moribund Christmas tree.
He then pays John Fisher money for his staff, his development guys, his research/stats teams. His ST big team camp has been out of action for three years needing all sorts of renovation.
He is – to say the least – very strange as an owner…
Peter in London
Peter: Despite being the most brittle player in bb this side of Chris Sale, I don’t think Rendon was a bad signing. The money Moreno gave him, in hindsight, was wrong since it could’ve gone to buy other players.
Why do these articles always seem to be Mets centric? Almost like it’s a foregone conclusion that’s where he ends up. Then at the end of the article, Oh by the way, there’s other teams interested too.
In this case, it’s because the Mets beat reporter at the Athletic wrote an extensive article on the topic. If the Cardinals or Mets beat reporter does similar, expect a link and similar article here at MLBTR.
As opposed to nearly every post asserting that guys will sign with the Dodgers?
In this case, it’s likely because he’s viewed as their top FA market and cohen has shown he’ll spend as high as he needs to in order to get someone
Mets centric
======================
They have the biggest wallet. The focus for top FAs will always be the richest teams.
Because the media, in their arrogance, don’t believe there are teams outside of NY. That being said, I think MLBTR does a good job of including all teams in their articles. If they focused on one team relentlessly, I’d delete the app.
And you in your ignorance, avenger65, apparently aren’t aware that the media covers two NY teams as well as 28 others for a total of 30.
That’s why you can surf the Internet and read papers like the Arizona Republic, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Denver Post, Houston Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Diego Union-Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and many others.
How you or anyone else fails to grasp that basic fact is totally amazing.
And you can watch Fox, MLB network, FS1, FS2, Apple TV, and TBS to see that the Yankees are on constantly. While teams were fighting for PO spots late in the season, one of those networks actually aired the Yankees/Tigers game. That should help you grasp that basic fact.
Actually Joe…
It’s because the large spending teams are mostly in large markets,
so constant gossipy articles about big name players coming or going to or from those brings more clicks – which is what Internet sites depend on.
But even mid-market teams have jumped in on this. As I mentioned yesterday the Padres are doing the ‘Keeping up With The Kardashions’ thing which works well on social media. So who cares if the Padres are never a real championship contender as they play sloppy baseball with a high percentage of me-first / marketing-my-brand players? Fact is that they were #3 in MLB attendance in 2023. This crap sells.
As with the NCAA basketball tournament MLB’s playoffs pretty much come down the The Final 4…..and some of those are often surprise teams. Speculation provides glitz and glamour and who cares if most are later found not to remotely be true? It keeps peoples interest level on the product. I enjoy this stuff because I
like to figure out what’s really going on beneath the nonsense.
Samuel: It doesn’t surprise me one bit that SD had the third highest attendance this season. They don’t have NHL, NFL or NBA teams in SD.
Cardinals? Yeah right. And this comes from a usually not too jaded Cardinals fan.
Hmm, the Cardinals. They gave Matz an AAV of $11M per year. Yamamoto is worth at least 5X Matz, so in Cardinals money Yamamoto is deserving of $55M per year.
Yeah like nobody wants a 25 year old proven Starting Pitcher with Cy Young stuff. Who would want that? Well except the A’s that is.
“…the club is giving hints they won’t be as aggressive this offseason.”??? Really? They are giving hints? To who? They’ll be in on Yamamoto and one or two more starters. They’ll be in on Ohtani. They’ll be in on numerous relievers. They’ll be plenty aggressive. Also, “…If the team is planning a sort of reset year after the disappointing 2023 campaign, giving the new president time to assess the organization and build the farm system…” Don’t worry.. Stearns is probably finished assessing the franchise. If Stearns needs a year to assess his franchise, fire him.
That quote about not being aggressive came from Max, which is what the FO told him that got him to waive his no-trade clause.
The one thing Billy Eppler excelled at was in signing Japanese FAs. Give him credit for that. He had been to Japan to court Yamamoto and Mets have Senga and Steve Cohen’s wallet but alot of negativity surrounding them including a MLB investigation of Eppler’s ethics. They have a new chief in David Stearns, no manager, substantial holes in their roster, and a city that is in decline in terms of quality of life. They have to rebuild the organization from the ground up so the timing here is bad. Too much bad karma will weigh against him being a Met IMO.
As people intelligently comment on the subject Blue Baron has nothing to say but says it anyway criticizing other people’s opinions. Maybe it helps his low self esteem however it adds nothing to the conversation
WOW! Gloves come off…
@Oldguy58: You obviously haven’t read all my posts, or you would know about the factual information I presented.
Instead, speaking of criticizing other people’s opinions and posts to elevate your self-esteem, you resort to an ad hominem personal attack, which indicates that your self-esteem is even lower than that.
The thing about such attacks is that they cause you to forfeit credibility and automatically lose any argument.
If you have an actual point to make without stooping to personal comments, I will listen and consider your point of view.
Otherwise, I will simply recognize you as a pot calling the kettle black.
I dont know if thi ls would be permitted by the rules, but I’d think the smartest thing for this guy to do would be sign a 3 or 4 year deal with the provision that he can’t be offered arbitration at end of the deal.
That way, if he shows he can do well in MLB, he hits free agent market again while still in his late 20’s.
And, if he doesn’t, then he heads back to Japan $100 million or more richer.
If he would do that short of deal, you better believe it’d be at least 75 mil AAV. Maybe 100
What?
I’m seriously dumbfounded by your post, congratulations.
Based on how Ohtani performed before coming to the Majors, his kwERA sat at 3.07, which is pretty decent and his current FIP is 3.31 over 5 years in the majors, I can see Yamamoto kwERA of 2.94 could probably translate into a 3.18 ERA +/- in the majors.
Big money coming his way.
I don’t think it’s a blanket statement to say that Japanese players don’t want to be on the same team as other Japanese players……but I don’t think it’s absurd either. Some may like it from a cultural acclimation point of view…..some may just want to be THE Japanese standout in their market to soak up all the jersey sales. I can see both sides.
JJ 7: That must be it. I hear Trout threatened to leave the Angels because people were buying up other White players jerseys.
In your attempt to come across as sarcastic and smart, you just made yourself look like a nit wit. Keep trying though!
If the Dodgers get Ohtani, as heavily rumored, I expect the Rangers to win, the way they’ve been spending, as well as an ALCS/WS appearance to sell. And as a Reds fan it would be awesome if he didn’t end up in this division. Unless Krall really meant it when he said we’ll have a lot of money to spend (PLEASE)
Dbird: Krall must be spending money, and he’s spending it the right way based on the players coming up through the farm system. I’m neither a fan or a non-fan of the Rangers, but deGrom will miss next season and another pitcher I can’t remember, so Yamamoto would be a good fit. Oh, and I also hope the Rangers make it to the WS and, if it’s the Phillies, win.
Not a Mets fan, but wouldn’t surprise me if they would be in. Looks like they are shifting to younger players and he would fit that criteria. Seems like they were getting rid of high priced players for prospects essentially buying that I wouldn’t say that they will have a payroll like the brewers now, just probably going to be smarter about it
My guess at this point is Ohtani signs with the Mariners. I’m not convinced it’s all about money for this guy. Everyone just speculates that he’s going to the highest bidder but I’m not convinced. He knows the history of the Mariners and Ichiro he has always talked fondly of the city I think it’s a good fit if he doesn’t want to completely maximize every dollar. If he wants max dollars he’s probably going to the Dodgers. Seattle needs another bat to protect Julio and Ohtani just makes too much sense.
If the Dodgers don’t sign Ohtani I think they will pay whatever it takes to get Yamamoto. They need pitching and will likely be very aggressive going after it and Ohtani will not be pitching next year and there’s no guarantee he will pitch again effectively so Yamamoto makes a ton of sense for the Dodgers.
Bruin: Seattle has always been my choice, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Ohtani is already a very rich man. I don’t think it’s money he wants. I think it’s Hollywood.
Cubs won’t sign this guy because he’s going to want a long contract. Plus, he’s only 5’10”, and though that alone may not matter to everyone, you’re combining that fact with maybe a 10-year deal, which is a huge risk given that he has never pitched in America. I get it that he looks terrific in terms of age and production; it’s just that there are unknowns when a guy is coming across the ocean. Normally, those unknowns are somewhat mitigated by a shorter deal. But in this case, it would appear that he will be looking for a longer agreement.
Not sure what height has to do with anything. Marcus Stroman is 5′ 9″. The rest of your points are plausible.
The top 10 fWAR pitchers over the past ten years, have averaged 6’4″. I think the shortest one was 6’2″. If I was hiring someone for 1-2, it would make no difference. If I was hiring someone for 10 years, that has to be a risk factor.
rememberthecoop: Jose Altuve takes exception to the first part of your post.
Funny how the Red Sox are last on the ‘potential’ list, when just this am there was a reputable post about how strong he wants to be a Red Sox..
I hope your right but its tough seeing the Red Sox being the high bidders. If he wants a reunion with former teammate Masa and really truly wants to be a Red Sox then that’s really good news for us Red Sox fans.
This is about as useful as those “Team X is interested in Shohei Ohtani” articles.
BRING THAT ADMIRAL………..TO DETROIT .
I would not give this guy 200+ million dollars. These japanese pitchers with small frames tend to overwork themselves because their bodies aren’t ment to throw that hard. 162 game schedule + spring training + playoffs is easily going to make Yamamoto get Tommy John with a plethora of other arm injuries as well. Senga’s contract was much more tolerable incase of injury. 200 mil to an unproven commodity is just not something I would do. Daisuke is easily a prime example of what can go wrong
If Cohen wants to win, he will need to develop better supporting rosters, not just high value contract rosters. He seems to think ge can buy his way out of FA mistakes, mediocre drafts, and poor development. This season was his answer to that experiment. I have no idea if this latest shiny toy from nbp is worthy of a 200m contract, or if the Mets sign him 350m. It would be much better if they could develop better players, especially pitchers, to fill out the roster around 1-2 major FA’s and let competent coaching staffs figure out how the pieces fit most effectively. Mets have a ways to go……from one who’d love to see the glory days return to Queens.
signing a 25 year old stud would give them time for their AA pitchers to develop
Mets can cheerfully outbid everyone, so I guess he’ll be a Met, if he prefers big market.
Since he’s been mentioned, Happy 50th Birthday Ichiro!