Mets Free Agent Target Named Pacific League MVP

The New York Mets have yet another reason to puruse Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

On Tuesday, Yamamoto learned that was named the Pacific League MVP for the third straight season, making him just the third player in Nippon Professional Baseball history to be named an MVP in three straight seasons.

That company is elite — Ichiro Suzuki (1994-96) and Hisashi Yamada (1976-78).

The link for Yamamoto is that he plays for the Orix Buffaloes, the same franchise that Ichiro played for (at the time it was called the Blue Wave).

Yamamoto called Ichiro a franchise “legend,” a tag that others can use about him now.

"I'm happy to have done the same as him,” Yamomoto said. “Everyone looks up to him, and I'm one of those."

Yamamoto had already claimed the Sawamura Award, which is the Japanese Cy Young, for the third straight season.

After he was posted last Monday by the Buffaloes, his agent, Joel Wolfe, told news outlets that at least 11 to 14 teams had reached out to him about Yamamoto in the first 24 hours.

Those initial contacts have led to Zoom or phone calls this week with those prospective teams while Yamamoto is doing the awards circuit. The Mets are expected to be one of those teams, as they scouted Yamamoto extensively this season and can leverage their Japanese pitcher, Kodai Senga, as a recruiter.

Yamamoto is expected to meet in person with a smaller group of finalists after the winter meetings have concluded on Dec. 7.

Yamamoto is 25 and considered the crown jewel of a group of talented Asian players that have either been posted or will be posted soon. Two other Japanese pitchers — Shota Imagana and Naoyuki Uwasawa — were posted on Monday.

At least two players from Korea will be posted in December —outfielder Jung Hoo Lee and his brother-in-law, pitcher Woo-Suk Go.

Many expect Yamamoto to get a contract in excess of $200 million. On Tuesday, The Athletic tabbed Yamamoto as the Mets’ best fit in free agency and projected a seven-year, $211 million deal. He must have a deal done by Jan. 4 or his rights revert back to the Buffaloes.

That’s big money for the best pitcher in Japanese baseball.

Yamamoto has a 70-29 record. He has a mid-90s fastball, but he is best known for an array of breaking pitches that can befuddle hitters. This season he had just a 1.21 ERA. He also went 16-6 and struck out 169 hitters in 164 innings.

Yamamoto just wrapped up play in the Japan Series, their country’s equivalent of the World Series. His final game saw him strike out 14 hitters in Game 6, which set a series record.

Yamamoto has thrown two no-hitters in his career. He’s also won gold medals for Japan in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.