Yankees meet with free-agent pitching target Yoshinobu Yamamoto, source says
Yoshinobu Yamamoto of Japan pitches in the eighth inning against Mexico during the World Baseball Classic Semifinals at loanDepot park on March 20 in Miami. Credit: TNS/Eric Espada
The Yankees took their turn in the chase for Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Monday, meeting with the Japanese star righthander in Southern California, a source confirmed to Newsday.
As Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said last week while discussing his own session with Yamamoto, merely meeting with him is newsy because of his increasing stature — but it also “shouldn’t be shocking,” as Stearns put it.
Just about every big-market team, as well as some others, is pursuing Yamamoto, a 25-year-old righthander who has won the Japanese equivalent of the Cy Young Award three years in a row.
Stearns and Mets owner Steve Cohen got together with him in Japan recently, Stearns said. And the Giants did so on Sunday, according to ESPN. And the Dodgers reportedly remain interested after signing Shohei Ohtani over the weekend. And the Blue Jays and others also have been linked to him.
Yamamoto is widely expected to receive a contract well beyond $200 million.
For the Yankees, he would be the second major splash of the offseason after their acquisition of Juan Soto from the Padres last week. They scouted Yamamoto throughout 2023, including when general manager Brian Cashman was present for his no-hitter late in the season.
“We were impressed,” Cashman said at the winter meetings last week. “There’s reasons we send our pro scouts over and we have a scout on the ground over there, to make sure we don’t miss out on any opportunities that might present themselves. He’s a tremendous opportunity for anybody and I’ll just leave it at that. But a very impressive and talented player.”
Stearns said of the Mets’ pitch to Yamamoto: “I try not to look at it as selling and I try to look at it as providing information about who we are as an organization and what we want to do and what we want to become. This is a big decision for any free agent, where to sign. And they deserve to have all the information. They deserve to make the most informed decision and the right decision for them and their family.”
Wheeling and dealing
The Yankees wound up playing a small role in the Ohtani sweepstakes after all.
They acquired a pair of players, lefthanded reliever Victor Gonzalez and infielder Jorbit Vivas, from the Dodgers for former first-round draft pick Trey Sweeney on Monday.
That allowed Los Angeles to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Ohtani (and another for Joe Kelly).
Gonzalez, 28, is a possible replacement for free-agent lefty Wandy Peralta. He owns a 3.22 ERA over parts of three seasons in the majors, though in 2023 that was up to 4.01.
Vivas, 22, is primarily a second baseman who also has played third. Last season, when he reached the upper minors younger than most players, he had a slash line of .269/.381/.407 — much better in Double-A than in a late-season promotion to Triple-A. MLB Pipeline slotted him in as the No. 10 prospect in the Yankees’ farm system.
Sweeney, a shortstop who will be 24 next season, spent 2023 in Double-A, where he hit .252 with a .777 OPS. He was the Yankees’ top draft selection in 2021.
With David Lennon
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
