Breaking: Yankees emerge clear favorites to sign 25-year-old
According to MLB insider Bob Nightengale, the Dodgers and Yankees are among the finalists for the rights to Yoshinobu Yamamoto
25-year-old Japanese pitching phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been given permission by the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) club to try his luck in the big leagues via the player posting system.
While every MLB club would love to have a player such as Yoshinobu Yamamoto, MLB Insider Bob Nightengale told Dodgers Nation that he thinks either the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, or New York Mets will win the right to sign Yamamoto to a contract:
Said Nightengale on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, “I certainly think [Yamamoto’s contract] will pass $200 million. I think he’ll be the highest free agent pitcher out there. I think that he’ll beat Blake Snell. But yeah, everybody wants this guy. He loves the limelight. I think it’s down to the Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets. I have a hard time believing it’ll be anybody else.”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto went 16-6 in 23 games with a 1.21 ERA for the Buffaloes in the recently concluded season in which Orix fell short of winning the league title after losing Game 7 of the Japan Series to the Hanshin Tigers.
There is still a lot of unknown about Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s future in the MLB, but the odds already have the Dodgers as the favorites to land the pitcher at +400. The New York Yankees, another perennial free agency big player, are right behind Los Angeles with odds of +500. The New York Mets, meanwhile, are labeled with +600 odds to win the Yamamoto sweepstakes. Teams within the +800 to +1400 odds range are the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Texas Rangers.
New favorite emerging for Padres slugger Juan Soto
It is almost a forgone conclusion that the San Diego Padres are going to trade superstar outfielder Juan Soto this offseason.
So far, it has seemed like the New York Yankees were the favorites to land Soto. However, trade talks between the Yankees and Padres have stalled.
SNY’s Andy Martino reported that the Padres were asking for a haul highlighted by pitcher Michael King and pitching prospect Drew Thorpe, the No. 5 overall prospect in the Yankees system. The Yankees appear unwilling to offer King.
With the Padres and Yankees seemingly at an impasse, the Toronto Blue Jays have now emerged as the favorites to trade for Soto, according to Héctor Gómez of the Dominican Republic’s Z101 Digital.
Earlier in the offseason, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the Blue Jays “want to do something big” this winter.
While they are rumored to be one of the frontrunners in the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes, trading for Soto – either instead of or in addition to signing Ohtani – would certainly be a significant move for Toronto.
Soto would immediately slot into left field for the Blue Jays and be a force in their already intimidating lineup. He would join All-Stars Bo Bichette, Vlad Guerrero Jr. and George Springer to create one of the top offensive cores in baseball.
One roadblock to a potential Soto trade is that he is entering the final year of his contract and will be a free agent next offseason. Because there is no guarantee that Soto re-signs wherever he is traded to, teams are likely viewing him as a one-season rental and are far less likely to meet the Padres’ asking price.
With the Winter Meetings beginning on Sunday in Nashville, there’s a good chance that if Soto does end up getting traded, it will happen soon. And right now, it’s looking like he could be heading north of the border.
