Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to sign with LA Dodgers: Reports
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The Los Angeles Dodgers beat out multiple teams to capture star Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, according to reports.
PHOTO: AFP
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LOS ANGELES – After signing reigning American League Most Valuable Player Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, US$700 million (S$926.9 million) contract earlier in December, the Los Angeles Dodgers landed star Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto on a 12-year, US$325 million deal on Dec 21, reported multiple media outlets.
The Los Angeles Times cited a person with knowledge of the deal but unauthorised to speak publicly, while ESPN also cited unnamed sources in reporting the Dodgers had beat out a bevy of other suitors to land the 25-year-old star.
Earlier on Dec 21, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed he had presented Yamamoto with a No. 18 Yankees jersey as part of the club’s effort to lure him to the Bronx.
“It’s his if he wants to keep it,” Boone said.
The New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays also pursued Yamamoto, per multiple reports.
But he will apparently be joining superstar compatriot Ohtani in Los Angeles.
Ohtani, the two-way star who this season won a second American League MVP Award by unanimous vote, departed the Los Angeles Angels as a free agent to ink his record-shattering deal – the richest contract in the history of North American sport.
Yamamoto teamed up with Ohtani in Japan’s victorious World Baseball Classic campaign and was named Japan’s Pacific League MVP for the third straight year in November.
That followed his third straight Eiji Sawamura Award as Japan’s top pitcher.
He won Nippon Professional Baseball’s (NPB) pitching triple crown – leading the league in wins, earned run average (ERA) and strikeouts – in each of the past three seasons. Overall, he was 49-16 with a 1.44 ERA and 580 strikeouts in that span.
In what turned out to be his final NPB start, Yamamoto pitched a 14-strikeout complete game on 138 pitches to lead the Orix Buffaloes to victory in Game 6 of the Japan Series.
The Buffaloes ultimately lost the series to the Hanshin Tigers, and they officially posted Yamamoto on Nov 20, making him eligible to sign with a Major League Baseball club.
Yamamoto spent the past six-plus seasons with the Buffaloes, compiling a 70-29 record with one save and a 1.82 ERA in 172 games. He has struck out 922 batters over 897 innings.
In 23 games in 2023, he finished with a 16-6 record and 1.21 ERA with 169 strikeouts in 164 innings. Those numbers helped him to his third straight triple crown.
Only three pitchers in MLB have won the pitching triple crown three times – Sandy Koufax, Walter Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.
Yamamato’s pact would eclipse Yankees ace Gerrit Cole’s deal by US$1 million. The Dodgers also will pay US$50.6 million in a posting fee for Yamamoto.
On the international stage, the Japanese won a gold medal with his country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and another at the World Baseball Classic earlier in 2023.
AFP, REUTERS
