Let the Yoshinobu Yamamoto bidding begin!
The bidding can begin on Tuesday for Yoshinobu Yamamoto — and the Mets and Yankees hope to be right in the middle of it.
The Japanese righthander, 25, was posted by the Orix Buffaloes on Monday, meaning interested MLB teams can start negotiating Tuesday.
Yamamoto has 45 days to sign with an MLB club, meaning a deal has to be completed by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Jan. 4.
The Yankees and Mets are believed to be among the most interested suitors for Yamamoto, who went 16-6 with a 1.21 ERA this season. He had 169 strikeouts and 28 walks in 164 innings.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman personally scouted Yamamoto in Japan in September and saw him throw a no-hitter.
Yamamoto, a two-time Pacific League MVP, has won Japan’s equivalent of the Cy Young Award three times. The Yankees would love to pair him with AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole, but Cashman first had to clean up a potential roadblock from a verbal spat with Yamamoto’s agent, Joel Wolfe.
Cashman, in his infamous news conference at the general managers’ meetings last week, drew the ire of Wolfe when he said of Giancarlo Stanton — another of Wolfe’s clients — “He’s going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game.”
Wolfe responded by issuing a statement that didn’t mention Stanton or Yamamoto by name but did take Cashman to task for his comments.
“I think it’s a good reminder for all free agents considering signing in New York, both foreign and domestic, that to play for this team, you’ve got to be made of Teflon, both mentally and physically, because you can never let your guard down — even in the offseason,” Wolfe said.
It’s unlikely that Cashman’s comments will have much impact on Yamamoto’s ultimate decision, not with so many zeros likely to be thrown around. But Cashman mentioned on Thursday that he did reach out to Wolfe and Stanton and said that “everything is in a good spot.”
The Mets, however, have no such issues. They have owner Steve Cohen’s very deep pockets and three openings in their starting rotation. Plus Yamamoto could be impressed by the positive experience Kodai Senga had in his rookie season with the Mets after signing for five years and $75 million.
Yamamoto likely will fetch much more than that, perhaps with a contract surpassing $200 million. That’s why the suitors’ list likely will be chock-full of big-market clubs such as the Dodgers, Angels, Cubs, Red Sox and Giants in addition to the Mets and Yankees.
The club that signs Yamamoto also will have to pay a hefty posting fee that will not count against its payroll for luxury tax purposes.
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said he hopes to add “multiple” starting pitchers this offseason — but not necessarily an ace type.
“You always love to bring in top-flight talent and top-flight pitching,” Stearns said at the GM meetings. “Do I think we need one? No. You can compile pitching staffs in a variety of different ways. Certainly any time you have horses at the front of the rotation, it makes everything else a little bit easier. But it’s not impossible to do it without that.”