After missing out on Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 25, the New York Yankees are looking for the next best thing.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the destination for Yamamoto, who had interest from several big league clubs this winter. “Yamamoto has agreed to a 12-year, $325 million ($42.28 billion) contract with the Dodgers,” MLB.com and other local media outlets reported on Feb. 22.
In addition to the Dodgers, the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, and Boston Red Sox were also in the running for Yamamoto. The Dodgers were the eventual winners, leaving the Yankees, who had been trying to win Yamamoto’s heart until the last minute, in the lurch.
The Yankees had been in the running for Yamamoto for quite some time. According to MLB.com, the Yankees have been watching him for more than a year. It was even reported that manager Aaron Boone gave Yamamoto a Yankees jersey with Yamamoto’s number 18 on it right before the Dodgers signed him.
In the end, however, Yamamoto was never able to wear a Yankees jersey.
Now that their plan to sign Yamamoto to bolster the mound has fallen through, the Yankees will have to look elsewhere to bolster their lineup.
“With Yamamoto headed to the Dodgers, the Yankees are considering turning to Plan B,” MLB.com reported. “The Yankees’ attention could now turn to reuniting with Jordan Montgomery or Frankie Montas, trading Corbin Burns, or signing Japanese pitcher Shota Imanaga.”
Montgomery and Montas are both pitchers on the free agent market. Both have played for the Yankees before.
Montgomery was selected by the Yankees in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft and made his big league debut in 2017. 카지노사이트 He played for the Yankees until last July, going 22-20 with a 3.94 ERA in 98 games.
He has since bounced around with the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers before becoming a free agent this winter and looking for a new team.
Montas, who broke into the majors in 2015, came to the Yankees from the Oakland Athletics in a trade last August. However, he struggled with shoulder injuries and surgeries, appearing in just one game this year. In nine games in a Yankees uniform, he went 2-3 with a 6.15 ERA.
Burns, of the Milwaukee Brewers, continues to be a trade target. He’s been named an All-Star in each of the last three seasons, and in 2021, he won the Cy Young Award, which recognizes the best pitcher in baseball.
The Yankees’ Plan B includes Imanaga, another Japanese pitcher with dreams of making it to the United States. Imanaga has a career record of 64-50 with a 3.18 ERA in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
All eyes are on the Yankees, who are in desperate need of bullpen reinforcements.