Phillies Considered One of Top Suitors for Japanese Phenom

The Philadelphia Phillies are looking for starting pitching help this offseason and could be major players to land Japanese phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Rumors are beginning to swirl about what teams across the league are interested in signing or trading for what player.

It's one of the best things about the Hot Stove.

The Philadelphia Phillies are no stranger to having their names thrown around constantly about an available player. After all, they have been kingmakers during free agency, signing Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Zack Wheeler and other stars during past cycles.

This offseason will be no different.

The Phillies are chasing the elusive World Series championship with this current group after coming close the past two seasons.

Ace Aaron Nola seems on his way out and Dave Dombrowski will have to replace that production to truly contend for a title.

According to Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia is "strongly considering right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto as a top-of-the-rotation starter to sign in free agency."

Yamamoto is one of the best available players on the market.

The Japanese phenom has a career ERA of 1.82 with a record of 70-29 and 922 strikeouts over 897 innings pitched in Nippon Professional Baseball.

What makes him so appealing to MLB teams is he's coming to the United States at 25 years old.

He is projected to be a superstar and the Phillies are reportedly a serious option to sign the right-hander this offseason.

"They’ve done significant work on Yamamoto. Most teams have sent scouts to see him, but I would say the Phillies should be considered one of the top five or six suitors for his services," one NL scout told Coffey.

Philadelphia, like the other teams interested, are waiting for him to get posted by the Orix Buffaloes so they can begin to negotiate.