Yankees meet with free agent they ‘desperately want’

The Yankees have not yet completed completing their roster.

The Yankees met with 25-year-old Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Monday in Los Angeles, according to a report from Jack Curry of the YES Network on Monday. There, the team’s senior executive presented his case for why and how he is a good fit for the company.

“I spoke to someone who is familiar with what happened in this interaction,”

Curry said regarding the meeting’s outcome, “and they described the

Yankees as feeling very positive about their pursuit of Yamamoto.”

As Curry stated, it won’t be simple for the Yankees to sign the “free agent pitcher who they desperately want.” According

to MLB insider Mark Feinsand, Yamamoto has already met with the Mets

and the Giants. Later this week, he is expected to meet with the Red Sox, as

well as a few other teams, including the Blue Jays.

Yamamoto is extremely sought after because pitchers of his caliber don’t usually become available at his age.

He led the Orix Buffaloes to a 16-6 record, 1.21 ERA, and 169 strikeouts in

164 innings pitched last season. For the third consecutive year, he was given the

Sawamura Award, which is Japan’s equivalent of the Cy Young Award.

Yamamoto’s signing won’t come cheap. Jeff Passan of ESPN, who compares

Yamamoto to a prime Tim Lincecum, said that before Christmas, the Japanese

ace would probably land a deal close to $250 million. Whichever team signs the

three-time Pacific League Most Valuable Player would pay nearly $300 million,

with a posting fee of more than $45 million.

Despite this, teams with large budgets have continued to ask questions about

Yamamoto. According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, only the Red Sox, who are

reportedly in the running for him, did not have a payroll in the top 10 in 2023;

they came in at number 12 with a payroll of $181.2 million.