All along, the Yankees must’ve known that they were fighting an uphill battle in the chase for Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
No matter how good their free-agency pitch was, or how attractive the Yankees were as a destination for a superstar seeking the limelight, this was always going to come down to Yamamoto’s personal preferences.
Would the 25-year-old really choose to play for a different team when he could sign with the Dodgers, take an exorbitant amount of money to join countryman Shohei Ohtani on a super team that’s closer to Japan, located on the West Coast?
Put yourself in Yamamoto’s shoes … signing a record-setting contract with the Dodgers is a pretty sweet deal, something that’d be hard for anybody to turn down.
Yamamoto’s agreement with Los Angeles is worth $325 million over 12 years, the largest contract for a pitcher, in both guaranteed money and years, in Major League Baseball history. Yes, that’s more than the $300 million over 10 years that the Yankees offered to Yamamoto, but a closer look at that contract is even more proof that Yamamoto was destined to pick the Dodgers.
The average annual value of the Yankees’ offer to Yamamoto was $30 million, $3 million higher than L.A.’s deal ($27 million per year). The Yankees also included an earlier opt-out (after five years, rather than six) and more money across those first five years, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Factor in the posting fee of nearly $50 million that will go to the Orix Buffaloes — Yamamoto’s old team in Japan — and Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner was ready and willing to pay $200 million over five years for a player that’s never thrown a pitch in an MLB game.
The Yankees also pulled out all the stops with Yamamoto. They had two productive in-person meetings with the free agent this month, getting some help from Yankees legend Hideki Matsui. They showed Yamamoto just how much they wanted him by scouting him extensively, sending general manager Brian Cashman…
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