Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the top pure pitcher on the free-agent market, has agreed to terms with the Los Angeles Dodgers on a 12-year deal worth $325 million, CBS Sports HQ Insider Jim Bowden confirms has. That figure makes it the largest contract ever awarded to a pitcher in MLB history, surpassing Gerrit Cole's $324 million deal with the Yankees. Yamamoto was called up to the MLB by the Orix Buffaloes of Japan earlier in the offseason, and Yamamoto's former NPB team now receives a release fee of just over $50 million from the Dodgers.
The bid for Yamamoto gained momentum on Thursday, with the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets cementing their positions as favorites in the final hours. However, in the end, Yamamoto decided to join his compatriot Shohei Ohtani in LA. Ohtani signed a $700 million contract with the Dodgers earlier this month that included massive salary deferrals on an unprecedented scale. This flexibility allowed the Dodgers to continue spending money this way, and that was actually the expectation when Ohtani signed the record-breaking contract. Speaking of procrastination: Ken Rosenthal And Jeff Passan Report that Yamamoto's deal contains none and includes a $50 million signing bonus and two opt-outs. The timing of the opt-outs is unknown.
According to SNYthe Mets matched the Dodgers' $325 million in their offer, and the Yankees offered $300 million.
Yamamoto, 25, was one of the most decorated and successful pitchers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball League. In seven seasons with the Orix Buffaloes, he posted a 1.72 ERA and a 4.56 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He is a three-time Eiji Sawamura Award winner (think NPB version of the Cy Young Award) and a five-time NPB All-Star Game representative.
CBS Sports ranked Yamamoto as the second-best free agent available this offseason. Here's what we wrote back then:
Yamamoto is a five-time All-Star, three-time ERA champion and two-time Triple Crown champion in the NPB. He won the Pacific League MVP and Cy Young awards last year. In our opinion, he is the best pitcher in the world who has never played for an MLB team. Oh, and he just celebrated his 25th birthday in August. Talent evaluators have raved about Yamamoto to CBS Sports for years, citing his elite command of a fine arsenal as the most impressive part of his game. About half the time he throws a mid-90s fastball, supplemented by a swing-and-miss splitter and a high-spin curveball. Each of those throws has involved a strike at least 65% of the time this season, reinforcing the notion that he is painting with a fine-tipped brush. There is more than enough precedent to be convinced that Yamamoto is one will make easy adjustments to the MLB ball and schedule.
Masahiro Tanaka previously held the record for the richest contract awarded to a Japanese pitcher. Tanaka signed a seven-year, $155 million contract with the New York Yankees in January 2014, and Yamamoto's contract more than doubles that.
With the Dodgers, Yamamoto joins a huge roster that includes Ohtani as well as perennial MVP candidates Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Dave Roberts' team has posted 100 wins three straight seasons and made the postseason 11 years in a row.
However, even after adding right-hander Tyler Glasnow via a trade with the Rays, the Dodgers still needed a stabilizing presence in the rotation. Yamamoto is just that and more, and he will lead a rotation that also includes Walker Buehler in his return season from Tommy John surgery and promising young talents Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan. A reunion with franchise legend Clayton Kershaw, who is once again a free agent, may still be possible.
However the Dodgers put the finishing touches to their $1 billion offseason, they expect to enter 2024 as overwhelming favorites to win the World Series. They had the lowest odds on Friday morning at +350.