The 2023 season of the New York Yankees can be considered a resounding failure as they occupy the last place in the Eastern Division of the American League and that is why the leadership is thinking about signings that will strengthen the team for 2024.
That’s why The Yankees, according to Yahoo Sports sources, are already studying a millionaire reinforcement from Japan and who already saw action in the World Baseball Classic, being crowned champion of the tournament: Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The starter, considered one of the jewels of Japanese ball, recently achieved the second no-hitter in his career and is expected to receive a million-dollar contract courtesy of the Mules board.
In fact, the source cited by the portal indicates that Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was able to see Yamamoto’s talent during his last start in Japan.
“The savior of the Yankees is Yamamoto, who is expected to transfer to the MLB through the
posting system this offseason. An MLB official said: ‘It’s clear the Yankees are moving to acquire Yamamoto. The best proof is that general manager Cashman personally went to Japan on Yamamoto’s scheduled pitch date.‘” commented the source.
Likewise, the report also indicated that the transaction for Yamamoto would be similar to the one the Yankees made in 2013 when they signed Masahiro Tanaka.
On that occasion, Tanaka had a successful season but the rest of the seasons were spent either injured by a Tommy John or with a poor performance that ultimately returned him to his team in Japan, Rakuten.
“The offer is expected to be significantly higher than the total of 155 million for seven years per
Masahiro Tanakawho joined the Yankees from Rakuten during the 2013 offseason,” the report added.
As for Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s numbers, the right-hander has a record of 73-29 over seven seasons, with a lifetime ERA of 1.74, with 962 strikeouts and 36 home runs allowed.
Although the Yankees are considering the signing of Yamamoto, which would help a rotation that was greatly affected by the injuries of Carlos Rodón, Néstor Cortés and Luis Severino in 2023, the agreement is not closed and There would be up to 12 teams interested in acquiring the pitcher’s services.
Check out the summary of Yamamoto’s recent no-hitter in Japan here:
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