Updating the Los Angeles Dodgers' Projected Rotation After Signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto

If there was any doubt who was winning baseball's arms race this offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers just put it to bed.

The Dodgers signed Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a record-breaking 12-year, $325 million contract on Thursday night. He's just the latest blockbuster addition Los Angeles has made this month, coming in the wake of Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Manuel Margot.

Yamamoto's arrival delivers yet another major shakeup to the Dodgers' rotation, which Fastball has already broken down two times in the last two weeks.

As it stands, this is what the Dodgers' starting rotation is likely to look like come next spring:

1. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, RHP
2. Tyler Glasnow, RHP
3. Walker Buehler, RHP
4. Bobby Miller, RHP
5. Emmet Sheehan, RHP

Yamamoto is the three-time reigning Pacific League MVP and Eiji Sawamura Award winner, which is given to the top pitcher in all of NPB. He has also won three Gold Gloves, four ERA titles, four strikeout titles and a Japanese Series.

The five-time All-Star has thrown two no-hitters in his professional career.

Yamamoto went 17-6 with a 1.16 ERA, 0.860 WHIP and 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings with the Orix Buffaloes in 2023. Since making his NPB debut in 2017, he is 75-30 with a 1.72 ERA, 0.915 WHIP and 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

Injuries have prevented Glasnow from ever making an All-Star Game, but he still posted a 3.20 ERA and 1.025 WHIP across his six seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays. Buehler, on the other hand, has made two All-Star appearances and owns a 3.02 ERA and 1.036 WHIP since 2017.

Buehler did not pitch at all in 2023, however, after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2022. He is expected to be back in time for the start of 2024, hoping to retain his 3.02 career ERA and make his third All-Star appearance.

Miller, 24, went 11-4 with a 3.76 ERA, 1.102 WHIP and 2.1 WAR in 22 starts as a rookie this year. Sheehan, who turned 24 last month, went 4-1 with a 5.23 ERA in his 11 starts in 2023.

Veteran lefty Ryan Yarborough is also a candidate to slide into the rotation, while 26-year-old righty Dustin May is slated to return from injury late in the summer.

May has been constantly banged up ever since finishing fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2020. In 191.2 career innings, he has a 3.10 ERA and 1.049 WHIP.

There's also future Hall of Fame southpaw Clayton Kershaw, who is currently a free agent. While the 35-year-old has spent his entire 16-year career with Los Angeles, it remains to be seen if there is room in the Dodgers' rotation – or their payroll – to bring Kershaw back.

Ohtani, meanwhile, won't be back on the mound until 2025 due to elbow surgery. By the time he rejoins Los Angeles' pitching staff, Buehler will be a free agent.

Yamamoto, Ohtani and Glasnow are all tied up for the long term, though, and the young guns also have plenty of years of team control remaining. May will be a free agent in 2026.

Follow Fastball on FanNation on social media

Continue to follow our Fastball on FanNation coverage on social media by LIKING us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.