The New York Yankees lost to Japanese free agent right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but not for lack of performance.
Comparing the teams' offers lends credence to the idea that Yamamoto simply would have chosen the Dodgers over any other club.
The Yankees offered Yamamoto a higher average annual value than the Dodgers, an earlier exit and more money in the first five years, according to sources briefed on the respective proposals.
However, Yamamoto agreed to a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers that included a $50 million signing bonus, terminations after the sixth and ninth years, and salary increases. The deal is not yet official. The New York Mets proposed the same 12 years and $325 million. Further details about their offer are not known.
The Yankees offered Yamamoto 10 years and $300 million – an AAV of $30 million, as opposed to the Dodgers' $27.08 million. The termination in their contract occurred after the fifth year, and the salaries were the same every year with no money paid back.
Therefore, the Yankees were willing to commit to a total payout of nearly $200 million over five years, including a $46.875 million release fee to Yamamoto's Japanese club, the Orix Buffaloes, knowing full well that Yamamoto would then would possibly get out.
What the Yankees didn't offer Yamamoto was a record total value for a pitcher that surpassed the $324 million they guaranteed to their own Gerrit Cole after the 2019 season. They also did not offer a $50 million signing bonus, although the parties could have converted money into a bonus if negotiations had progressed.
According to Robert Raiola, an auditor and director of sports and entertainment at accounting firm PFK O'Connor Davies, Yamamoto will not pay California tax on the signing bonus if he is an out-of-state resident.
The Dodgers will pay the bonus in full in 2024, and the tax savings for Yamamoto could be $7.2 million.
The message seems clear. Like Shohei Ohtani, whose Giants and Blue Jays were reportedly willing to honor the 10-year, $700 million contract he received from the Dodgers, Yamamoto appeared to have a specific team he wanted to join. And that team was the Dodgers.
(Top photo by Yamamoto: Yuichi Yamazaki / AFP via Getty Images)