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The MLB season ended with a bang after the Texas Rangers ended their miraculous run with a World Series championship over the Arizona Diamondbacks. That's the entire point of all of this: to win the World Series. Texas helped themselves get there in part by making a series of moves in free agency. It's about that time where every team makes those types of moves to help them reach the ultimate pinnacle of the sport themselves.
The biggest fish in the pond aside from Shohei Ohtani in free agency this winter might not even be someone who was in MLB this past year. Instead, it might be Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Yamamoto is a 25-year-old Japanese phenom who dominated for the Orix Buffaloes in the NPB league. For his career there, Yamamoto posted a 1.72 ERA, a 0.915 WHIP, a 9.2 strikeout per nine innings ratio, and 4.56 strikeout per walk ratio. Those are unbelievable, jaw-dropping numbers.
Pair those elite numbers with his age, and it would make sense that Yamamoto would be widely pursued by every MLB team. But he can only sign with one team. The question is, who should sign him and where will he ultimately wind up?
New York Mets sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto?
The favorites to land Yoshinobu Yamamoto appear to be the New York Mets. MLB insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today has reported that rival executives believe he will wind up with the Mets.
It would make sense for a variety of reasons for the Mets to be the favorites to land Yamamoto. For one, the Mets need pitching. The Mets ranked 19th in MLB in ERA (4.31), 21st in WHIP (1.34), and 18th in opponent's batting average (2.48).
After they fell out of the playoff race, the Mets sold at the trade deadline and dealt Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. As a result, the Mets had only one starting pitcher who ended the season on their roster and pitched at least 50 innings and posted an ERA below 3.5: that would be Kodai Senga.
Which leads to another reason why it would make sense for the Mets to land Yamamoto: they've already tapped into the overseas market. They did so last offseason to sign Kodai Senga to a five-year $75 million deal.
This is where owner Steve Cohen's willingness to spend big works in the Mets' advantage. With no salary cap in MLB, each team is free to spend whatever they want on a star player when they hit the market. With Yamamoto's age, he will fetch a pretty penny in the offseason.
That leads to yet another reason why the Mets are the favorites to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto: Steve Cohen's pockets. Cohen has plenty to spend and seems very likely to outbid anybody else interested in Yamamoto's services. The Mets led MLB in payroll last season at $202,981,859.
Not only did they pay up for Senga last offseason, but they also have spent big on players like Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte, Justin Verlander, and Max Scherzer in the past. None of those guys are as valuable as what Yamamoto appears to be. Cohen shouldn't take no for an answer here.
New York Yankees land Yamamoto?
If the Mets are unable to land Yoshinobu Yamamoto, maybe the other team in New York would make sense. The Yankees are another team that has had success with Japanese pitching phenoms after landing Masahiro Tanaka many years ago. But like the Mets, the Yankees also have deep pockets.
The Yankees had the second-highest payroll in 2023; they only trailed the Mets by $8,523. Money would not be an issue for the biggest franchise in baseball.
The Yankees also could really use another star pitcher. Though the Yankees ranked in the top ten of numerous team pitching stats this past season, a lot of the heavy lifting came from Gerrit Cole and their bullpen. Outside of Gerrit Cole, however, the Yankees did not have a single starting pitcher who pitched at least 50 innings that posted an ERA below 4.5. That's almost unbelievable how bad that is.
Another stat really brings home how bad the Yankees' starting pitching was in 2023. The Yankees finished 2023 tied for 22nd in quality starts on the season with 48 of them. Gerrit Cole was responsible for 24 of those.
Literally half of the Yankees' quality starts came from their ace. That's unsustainable if the Yankees are serious about winning.
The Yankees have to make an upgrade to their pitching staff before the 2024 season. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is probably the best starting pitcher on the market this offseason. The Mets and their owner have plenty of money to spend, but the Yankees would be wise to spend up on a pitcher of Yamamoto's caliber too.
