Red Sox Reportedly Expected To Compete For Highly Sought-After Star This Offseason
It sounds like the Boston Red Sox will be in on arguably the best free-agent starting pitcher until the very end.
Boston has been linked to Orix Buffaloes phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto on numerous occasions over the last year and soon will have a chance to sign him. Yamamoto is the most exciting free agent this offseason -- not named Shohei Ohtani -- and will soon be posted by the Buffaloes and be able to negotiate with Major League Baseball clubs.
Yamamoto is just 25 years old and will land a contract over $200 million. Boston has money to spend and will be among a handful of clubs involved in the sweepstakes, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.
"The market for him is sizzling as he awaits his official posting," Passan said. "(It is expected to happen this week, sources told ESPN.) Just how high Yamamoto's number goes is unclear, but rare is the player similarly beloved by teams' evaluators and computer models. With those sorts, it tends to start at $200 million and work up. The two biggest pitching contracts ever belong to Gerrit Cole (eight years, $324 million) and Stephen Strasburg (seven years, $245 million). The former has been a rousing success, the latter an unmitigated disaster.
"With the trajectory of the bidding and the teams involved -- the (New York Yankees), (New York Mets), (Chicago Cubs), Red Sox, (Los Angeles Dodgers), perhaps (San Francisco Giants), and (Toronto Blue Jays) as well -- Yamamoto could find himself in their company, and the separator could be which team is willing to offer him big money and an opt-out clause to further leverage his age."
This won't be the last time there is some connection between the Red Sox and Yamamoto. Boston needs a new ace and Yamamoto is the perfect person to pursue. He is just 25 years old and if he can carry over his play from the Buffaloes will quickly become one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball.
It won't be too long until we find out who Yamamoto wants to land with.
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