The Chicago Cubs have repeatedly been linked to free agent pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and though another report emerged doing so this week, they’re far from alone.
According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, the Cubs are indeed interested in signing the 25-year-old hurler, but other big market teams are also very much in the mix.
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That list of teams includes the Los Angeles Dodgers, whom Heyman said could be the only team interested in, or even capable of, signing both Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani in the same offseason.
The Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox are also potentially in the mix for Yamamoto’s services.
It’s rare for a pitcher as young as Yamamoto to be posted by a Japanese team, but that is exactly what the Orix Buffaloes did this week. In seven career seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball league, Yamamoto has posted a stellar 70-29 record with a 1.82 ERA. He has struck out 922 batters in 897 career innings in that league.
He averages 95-to-97 miles per hour with his fastball, and some reports have indicated that he could command $200 million or more on the open market.
