The Los Angeles Dodgers once again beat the competition to get the best available player on the free-agent market. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Dodgers have signed Japanese star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million contract.
Yamamoto received the richest deal ever given to a pitcher, surpassing the $324 million contract Gerrit Cole received from the New York Yankees in 2019. Earlier this month, the Dodgers also set the mark for the richest deal in MLB history by signing two-time NL MVP Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract.
The deal for Yamamoto will come with an added cost for the Dodgers. They are required to pay a posting fee of $50.6 million to the player’s Nippon Professional Baseball team, Orix Buffaloes.
After Ohtani signed with the Dodgers, Yamamoto became the most sought-after free agent in baseball despite never playing in the majors. Almost all the big spenders in the league were interested in his services, including the New York Mets, New York Yankees, and San Francisco Giants. However, the 25-year-old player ended up choosing the Dodgers like Ohtani, and will now be part of a superteam that also includes future Hall of Famers Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts.
Yamamoto is coming off an unprecedented run that saw him win three consecutive Eiji Sawamura Awards, given to the best pitcher in NPB, and post impressive numbers that included a 17-6 record, 1.16 ERA, 169 strikeouts, and just two home runs allowed during the 2023 season.
