Dodgers Win Yoshinobu Yamamoto Sweepstakes
The Los Angeles Dodgers are clearly the winners of the 2023 free agency, after first signing two-time MVP Shohei Ohtani, and now signing Japanese starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The deal is a 12-year 325-million-dollar contract, in which Los Angeles will pay nearly an additional 51 million posting fee to Yamamoto's previous team, the Orix Buffaloes. The Dodgers have now spent more than a billion dollars this winter, trying to make an unbeatable championship team. Yamamoto has a pair of opt-outs in his deal and will receive a 50 million dollar signing bonus, unlike Ohtani, who’s nearly 700 million will be deferred ten years out.
This deal is currently pending a physical, but the Dodgers can finally be put at ease knowing they won the bidding war against numerous teams like the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, and the Toronto Blue Jays. The 25-year-old right-handed pitcher has won three consecutive MVP Awards in Nippon Professional Baseball, and three Eiji Sawamura Awards, the equivalent to the MLB’s Cy Young Award. Yamamoto has been one of a kind for the NPB, since transitioning from the bullpen to Orix's rotation in 2019, in over 820 innings, he’s posted a 1.65 ERA and struck out nearly five times as many hitters as he has walked while allowing one home run every 28 innings. Yoshinobu has a great arsenal of pitches frontline by his fastball, split-finger fastball, and his curveball.
He was a five-time NPB all-star, a three-time Pacific League Gold Glove winner, and a Japan Series champion in 2022. Early on in 2023, he represented Japan being teamed up with his now current teammate Shohei Ohtani defeating the United States 3-2. Let’s be legit here, as much as we hope for our favorite team to win it all, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the clear-cut favorite to win the 2024 World Series. They have a lineup, and pitching rotation that just bolsters over the rest of the league. It’s going to be scary the number of games this team could potentially win next season. How will Yoshinobu Yamamoto impact the Dodgers in 2024?
