LOS ANGELES – Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto said the Los Angeles Dodgers’ desire to win was why he chose them over the other teams pursuing him, and getting to join countryman Shohei Ohtani only sweetened the deal.
The right-hander signed a 12-year, US$325 million (S$428.4 million) contract with the Dodgers this week that will see the 25-year-old receive the most guaranteed money ever given to a pitcher. The club also paid more than US$50 million to his former Nippon Professional Baseball team.
“I am beyond ecstatic to become a member of this historic franchise,” Yamamoto said in English at a press conference at Dodger Stadium on Dec 27, before responding to questions through an interpreter.
“I cannot express how much it means to me to be able to call Los Angeles my new home.”
Yamamoto was named the top pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball for the last three seasons – winning the pitching triple crown each year, leading the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA (earned run average).
He won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and helped Japan to victory at the World Baseball Classic in 2023.
Ohtani said he also prioritised winning. He put his money where his mouth is, deferring 97 per cent of his 10-year, US$700 million contract for a decade to enable the Dodgers to sign top-tier talent like Yamamoto.
“Through my talks with the front office, it was really clear that they wanted to win,” Yamamoto added.
“But on top of that, the fact that Shohei was doing that signalled that it wasn’t only the front office, it was the players that bought into this winning atmosphere as well.
“That really resonated with me.”
On having Ohtani as a teammate, he said: “Even if he went somewhere else, I probably still would have ended up in LA as a Dodger.
“But Shohei is obviously not only one of the best Japanese players, he’s one of the best players, period, in all of MLB.
“To be able to play with him from here on means a lot to me.”
Expectations will be sky high for the Dodgers, who followed their 2020 World Series triumph with three straight 100-win seasons that ended in post-season flops.
“I promise to all the fans in LA to focus my everything to become a better player and to become a world champion as a member of the Dodgers,” Yamamoto added. REUTERS
