Field Level Media
21 Nov 2023, 03:55 GMT+10
(Photo credit: Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports)
Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto can begin negotiating with Major League Baseball teams on Tuesday after officially posting as a free agent.
The right-hander is projected to sign a long-term deal worth more than $200 million, and his current team in Japan will receive a percentage of the contract value on top of that, likely more than $30 million.
Yamamoto, reportedly high on the offseason shopping list of multiple big-market teams, expects to draw interest from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox and both New York teams.
Per MLB rules, the 45-day window that opens Tuesday would close at 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 4.
The 25-year-old spent the past six-plus seasons with the Orix Buffaloes, compiling a 70-29 record with one save and a 1.82 ERA in 172 games. He has struck out 922 batters over 897 innings.
In 23 games in 2023, he finished with a 16-6 record and 1.21 ERA with 169 strikeouts in 164 innings. Those numbers helped him to his third straight Triple Crown in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball as he led the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts.
Only three pitchers in Major League Baseball have won the Triple Crown three times -- Sandy Koufax, Walter Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.
Yamamoto also has won the Eiji Sawamura Award, which equals the Cy Young Award, three times.
The 5-foot-10 Yamamoto won a gold medal with Japan in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and another in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year.
--Field Level Media
Get a daily dose of Massachusetts Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Massachusetts Sun.
More InformationNASSAU, The Bahamas: The Bahamas police says a woman from the U.S. died after she was attacked by a shark ...
BEIJING, China: President Xi Jinping is set to visit Vietnam on December 12 and 13, where he will engage with ...
WASHINGTON, DC - Within hours of blocking a UN Security Council resolution from demanding a ceasefire in the current Mideast ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: In a sign of the challenges ahead for his 2024 re-election bid, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that ...
Israel has acknowledged and thanked the United States and President Joe Biden for standing firmly by Israel's side at the ...
NEW YORK: This week, New York City officials said that one person was killed and six others were injured when ...
TOKYO, Japan: Japan, Britain, and Italy are set to establish a new collaborative organization and industry group dedicated to developing ...
LOS ANGELES, California: This week, members of the SAG-AFTRA actors union approved a three-year contract with major studios, formally ending ...
LAS VEGAS, Nevada: The U.S. Transportation Department has allocated US$3 billion for a $12 billion Las Vegas to Southern California ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: U.S. gasoline prices could fall below US$3 a gallon for the first time since 2021 and are currently ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: To fix issues that could lead to further bank failures in the U.S., such as the collapse of ...
ARLINGTON, Virginia: This week, Reuters reported that Boeing delivered 46 narrowbody 737s jets in November. The total brings the U.S. ...