Yoshinobu Yamamoto is heading to the Los Angeles Dodgers, spurning the Mets and Yankees, both of whom made the Japanese ace a focal point of their offseason plans.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, continued an unprecedented spending spree this winter that now exceeds $1.1 billion by adding Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow. What’s stopping them from doing more, if not now, then next offseason?
Former Mets pitcher Nelson Figueroa dug the knife a little deeper for the New York fanbases on Friday morning.
“If @Mets and @Yankees fans are heartbroken now just wait til the @Dodgers lock up Pete Alonso and Juan Soto in 2025!!!” Figueroa wrote on X with images of the stars in Dodgers jerseys.
Figueroa, who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, pitched for parts of nine seasons, including 2008-09 with the Mets. He is currently an anchor on PIX11 Sports and has also worked as an analyst on SNY.
Alonso and Soto will become free agents for the first time next offseason, and both seem unlikely to sign contracts during the season, in part, because their agent, Scott Boras, almost always takes his players to the open market.
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said that Alonso will be the team’s first baseman on Opening Day and he’s an “important” member of the franchise, but the Mets have not engaged in extension talks with their homegrown first baseman, at least according to reports. His Queens future is very much in doubt.
Alonso has become a fan favorite in his five seasons with the Mets since being taken in the second round of the 2016 draft. The 29-year-old has hit 192 home runs with a .251 average and 136 OPS+.
The Yankees traded five players to acquire Soto and outfielder Trent Grishman this offseason because the San Diego Padres are trimming their payroll and could not afford Soto’s projected $30-plus million salary (via arbitration). The 25-year-old is already on a Hall of Fame path — Soto has a .285 average, 160 home runs and a 157 OPS+ in his…
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