New York Mets' Division Rival Phillies Give Yamamoto An Offer
For a while, it looked like it might be a New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers battle to see who could put together the best bid for Japanese phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
After the Dodgers were able to get a deferred contract structure for Shohei Ohtani's massive $700 million deal, it gave them more leeway to spend for other free agents.
The Yankees have plenty of money to give out as well and nobody has more money in this sport than Mets' owner Steve Cohen.
However, none of these teams were the first to offer Yamamoto a contract.
According to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, it was New York's division rival Philadelphia Phillies who extended a deal to the phenom.
This is a surprise considering that the Phillies were already able to re-sign their ace, Aaron Nola, to a seven-year, $172 million contract this offseason and are entering 2024 with the highest payroll in team history.
Yet, they've reportedly been enamored by Yamamoto and decided to extend an offer, despite their president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, saying that their rotation is already set.
"While it is unlikely that the Phillies will be the highest bidder for Yamamoto, a source with direct knowledge of the team’s thinking said they were planning to be “aggressive," reports Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
With the Mets still formulating their plan on how much money they are willing to offer, something should be coming soon.
After all, Yamamoto has to decide on which team he's signing with before the deadline of Jan. 4.
