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With the news that Yoshinobu Yamamoto has spurned the New York Yankees in favor of signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Bronx Bombers might be starting to feel like every other team during the height of New York's “Evil Empire” phase. The Yankees are not accustomed to setting their sights on a player and losing out on him. Certainly not because another team bid more money.
But that's exactly what happened with Yamamoto. The Yankees made an offer of $300 million over 10 years. The Dodgers outdid that with a 12-year, $325 million proposal, with a signing bonus of approximately $50 million, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale.
Throwing gobs of money at free agency's biggest names used to be the modus operandi of the Yankees. Former owner George Steinbrenner didn't like to lose in those situations. And because they are the New York Yankees, they rarely did.
But the Dodgers now have their second huge free agent signing of the offseason, flexing the allure of playing in Los Angeles.
Yankees lose at their own game
After flaming out in a three-game NLDS loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, it's no surprise that the Dodgers felt their roster needed at least a tweak. Simply making the playoffs does not qualify as success at Chavez Ravine, after all.
It's officially been more than tweaked. Yamamoto's contract, coupled with Shohei Ohtani's monster 10-year, $700 million pact (yes, it's heavily deferred, but you get it), means the Dodgers have committed to spending over a billion dollars already this winter.
It's hard to argue the Yankees could've done more. Then again, it's hard to argue this would've happened to the Yankees of the early 2000s.
