In 2024, the New York Yankees are having a great start. When the Yankees acquired Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres in a seven-player trade this winter, it was one of the greatest splashes in free agency. Still, the Yankees were the front-runners to add another big name. Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY reports that Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Los Angeles Dodgers “would have signed with” the Yankees or New York Mets if it weren’t for Shohei Ohtani.
Nightengale stated, “Persons familiar with Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s thinking say he would have signed with the New York Yankees or Mets if Shohei Ohtani had not signed with the Dodgers and helped recruit him.” Yamamoto is a pitcher for the Dodgers.
In free agency, Yamamoto inked a record-breaking contract with the Dodgers. He agreed to a 12-year, $325 million contract, moving to Los Angeles to join Ohtani, his World Baseball Classic colleague.
Yamamoto is recruited by Ohtani
Ohtani’s signing by the Dodgers was their largest offseason acquisition. It’s evident that the Dodgers felt that adding the two-time American League MVP was insufficient. It makes sense that Yamamoto was one of the most sought-after pitchers throughout the offseason.
His accomplishments in Nippon Professional Baseball include winning the Triple Crown in pitching, leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts, and winning Japan’s equivalent of the Cy Young Award, the Eiji Sawamura Award, each of the previous three seasons. He now joins the Majors. He finished the season 49–16 overall with a 1.44 ERA and 580 strikeouts, according to MLB.com’s Sonja Chen.
Ohtani, on March 6, “recruited Yamamoto to the Dodgers,” according to Nightengale. Ohtani was acknowledged by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts as having an influence on Yamamoto’s choice.
Roberts remarked, “I think he was huge, obviously.” “There’s always conjecture when discussing Japanese athletes; are they interested in playing together? which no one ever finds out. However, I firmly think that when someone of Shohei’s caliber declares, “We want you here,” I’d like to be on your team, Yamamoto said, using that as a strong selling point.
Yamamoto Would Have Made the Yankees’ Rotation More Robust
The Dodgers were prepared to give Yamamoto a sizable contract despite their uncertainties about his ability to succeed in Major League Baseball. Although signing Yamamoto would not have been inexpensive for the Yankees, it appears that the move would have been worthwhile.
Chen claims that Yamamoto’s contract is the highest guaranteed salary ever given to a pitcher, topping Gerrit Cole by a million dollars.
MLB.com stated that Yamamoto is just the third player in Japanese baseball history to win the MVP award in the NPB for three straight seasons.
Yamamoto might have served as the team’s ace while Cole recovered because Cole is presently out. The two of them would have been among the greatest in baseball upon Cole’s comeback.
With a 2.91 ERA in his seven starts, Yamamoto is 3-1. His ERA is 1.64 if you take out his inning outing from the season opener, where he gave up five runs. For the Yankees, matching Yamamoto with Cole would have been extremely beneficial.
In 2023, Cole led the American League in innings pitched (209.0), record (15-4) and 2.53 earned runs. In 2023, Cole took home his first American League Cy Young Award.
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