MLB Rumors: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers Agree to Record 12-Year, $325M Contract

Japanese superstar Yoshinobu Yamamoto is going to start his MLB career with the Los Angeles Dodgers on a 12-year, $325 million contract, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan explained:

The New York Mets reportedly offered Yamamoto the $325 million contract first, but the Dodgers matched the deal, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic. The New York Yankees reportedly bid $300 million, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Yamamoto has been pitching professionally in the NPB league with the Orix Buffaloes since 2017. The right-hander is one of the most dominant pitchers in the world, regardless of league.

During his time with the Buffaloes, Yamamoto has been an All-Star five times, won the Pacific League ERA title, pitching triple crown and Pacific League MVP in three consecutive years from 2021 to ’23.

Yamamoto had a breakout moment on the world stage pitching for Japan in the 2020 Olympics. He allowed two runs and two walks with 18 strikeouts in 11.1 innings over two starts to help the host country win the gold medal.

The 2023 World Baseball Classic was another standout event for Yamamoto. The right-hander had a 2.45 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 7.1 innings over two appearances.

Yamamoto carried that success into the 2023 NPB season for the Buffaloes. He led the league in nine different pitching categories, including ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, FIP and WAR.

The scouting reports for Yamamoto are just as glowing as that stat line indicates. CBS Sports’ R.J. Anderson ranked him as the best international prospect after the WBC:

“Yamamoto would fit right in from a pitch-quality perspective. He has great command of a mid-90s fastball with carry, as well as a swing-and-miss splitter and a high-spin curveball. He would have to prove that his stuff—especially his splitter—plays the same with the baseball stateside, but again, there’s enough precedent here to be optimistic about his chances.”

Yamamoto is on the smaller side for a starting pitcher with his listed height at just under 5’9″ on the official NPB website. But the movement of his fastball and his ability to change eye levels with his offspeed stuff gives him a greater margin of error than most pitchers at that size.

Coming off another disappointing playoff performance, the Dodgers had a lot more questions going into this offseason than they have in a long time.

Hitting wasn’t one of the questions they had, but no one is going to complain about the addition of Shohei Ohtani. The two-time AL MVP also got to work quickly for his new team by joining Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in the Dodgers’ presentation to Yamamoto, per The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and Ken Rosenthal.

The state of their pitching staff was the biggest one for the front office to figure out. Clayton Kershaw was very good during the regular season, but his fastball velocity was way down late in the year and he got lit up for six runs in just one-third of an inning in a Game 1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the NLDS.

Kershaw has been playing on one-year contracts each of the past two seasons. There’s been speculation about his future, either away from the Dodgers or potentially retirement. His announcement that he had shoulder surgery on Nov. 3 and hopes to return midway through the 2024 season only adds to the uncertainty around him playing again.

Julio Urías is a free agent and his future in the league is uncertain after he was arrested in September on suspicion of domestic battery.

Prosecutors declined to charge Urías in the case as long as he commits no acts of violence against anyone for one year and completes a 52-week domestic violence counseling program, per Richard Winton and Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times. He remains under investigation by MLB and subject to discipline under the domestic violence policy.

Dustin May will be out until at least midseason after undergoing elbow surgery in July. Walker Buehler will be making his return after missing all of 2023 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

Given that many question marks in the starting rotation, the Dodgers needed Yamamoto as much as any team in MLB. Even factoring a potential adjustment period as he gets acclimated to MLB hitting, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s their best pitcher in 2024.