Red Sox Expected To Be 'Aggressive' In Bid For Top Pitcher On Market This Winter
Yet another highly-touted Japanese prospect is expected to make his Major League debut next season, will the Boston Red Sox win the sweepstakes?
With rumors swirling about where Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Nippon Professional Baseball League will sign in the upcoming offseason -- the Red Sox are reportedly going to be one of the many teams going 'all in' to acquire the starting pitcher.
"I think they'll be aggressive, I think they know that they have something of an advantage with his former teammate (Masataka) Yoshida here," MassLive's Sean McAdam said on the "Fenway Rundown" podcast. "They also have a track record of being a place where Japanese pitchers have come and had success. Whether it be Koji (Uehara), whether it be Daisuke Matsuzaka, they have the infrastructure and everything in place to make Japanese players feel comfortable. I think all that is in their favor but let's face it; this is going to come down to dollars and cents."
While the Red Sox are in a position to spend this winter, signing Yamamoto won't be as easy as sending a check.
"(It's) going to be the battle of the heavy hitters and it's going to take an aggressive Red Sox bid to get him," McAdam said.
Yamamoto is 14-5 with a 1.26 ERA, 145-to-24 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 0.88 WHIP in 143 innings pitched this season. He's widely considered a top arm in the upcoming free-agent class and will not come cheap.
The firing of chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom points toward the Red Sox's desire and urgency to get back on top. Hopefully, Yamamoto is atop their list of targets.
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