The Dodgers still have their eye on landing another Japanese import, but they might have to boost their offseason commitment for two players to $1 billion to do it.
After signing two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani to a record 10-year, $700 million contract on Saturday, the Dodgers “are still interested in and can still afford” free-agent pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, according to Post baseball columnist Jon Heyman.
The 25-year-old Yamamoto is projected to earn a contract in the $300 million range, plus a posting fee to his existing club, the Orix Buffaloes.
Heyman listed “the three perceived favorites” to land Yamamoto as the Mets, the Yankees and the Dodgers.
Mets owner Steve Cohen and new team president David Stearns flew to Japan to meet with Yamamoto and his family earlier this offseason. The Mets signed Japanese hurler Kodai Senga on a five-year contract worth $75 million last offseason, and he finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting after ending the 2023 season with a 12-7 record, a 2.98 ERA and 202 strikeouts in 166 ¹/₃ innings.
“It was a great meeting [with Yamamoto],” Stearns said earlier this week at the winter meetings in Nashville. “I try to look at it as providing information about who we are as an organization and what we want to do and become. This is a big decision for any free agent, where to sign, and they deserve to have all the information — they deserve to make the most informed decision and right decision for them and their family.”
The Yankees, who obtained All-Star outfielder Juan Soto earlier this week in a blockbuster trade with the Padres, are slated to meet with Yamamoto on Monday, The Post has reported. Yanks GM Brian Cashman also personally scouted Yamamoto in Japan in September and watched the righty toss a no-hitter.
“We’ve scouted him extensively and think he’s going to be a really successful pitcher anywhere he pitches on the planet,” Cashman said at the winter meetings. “He’s a free agent and we’ll see where it takes us. But we’ve definitely had conversations and will give our best efforts.”
The Giants and the Phillies are also among the teams that have been linked to Yamamoto, who has won the Japanese equivalent of the Cy Young Award in each of the past three seasons.
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