Yoshinobu Yamamoto and LA Dodgers agree to 12-year, $325 million contract. What do we know?
In joining the Dodgers, the Japanese pitcher will unite with his compatriot who also happens to be the best player in baseball. Great times ahead in LA?
With his record deal now complete, one of the best pitchers we’ve seen in quite some time is heading to MLB and with that, it’s safe to say the league has been put on notice by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto joins Dodgers in record deal
According to reports, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, has put pen to paper on a contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers that is understood to be a 12-year deal worth $325 million. To be clear, that would make Yamamoto’s contract the largest ever awarded to a pitcher in MLB history. The record was previously held by Gerrit Cole who signed a $324 million deal with the New York Yankees. As for how we got to this point, you may recall that Yamamoto was posted for MLB consideration by his team, the Orix Buffaloes back in November. To that end, the Buffaloes will now receive a posting fee of just over $50 million from the Dodgers.
As the top pure pitcher that was available on the free-agent market, you can imagine many suitors were attempting to lure the 25-year-old into joining up. Indeed, on Thursday the Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets all made their intentions clear as they emerged as favorites to sign him. Ultimately, despite reports initially indicating that Yamamoto didn’t want to join the Dodgers due to the presence of his compatriot and two-way sensation, Shohei Ohtani, it appears that he’s decided to do just that. This is of course now the Dodgers’ second blockbuster move of the offseason having acquired Ohtani for $700 million.
The particulars of Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s deal
Given the kind of money that was involved in Ohtani’s deal, the Dodgers had to get creative. Indeed, so too did Ohtani himself which resulted in an unprecedented salary deferral scheme that was agreed on by both parties. In doing so, the Dodgers were able to maintain a great deal of financial flexibility which in turn allowed them to continue their spending spree. In keeping with that, reports confirm that Yamamoto’s deal has no deferrals in place and includes a $50 million signing bonus.
Regarding for Yamamoto himself, the Japanese ace has been without a doubt one of the most accomplished pitchers in the history of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league. Across the seven seasons that he played with the Orix Buffaloes, he registered a 1.72 ERA and a 4.56 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He’s a three-time Eiji Sawamura Award winner - the NPB version of the Cy Young Award - and has five NPB All-Star Game appearances under his belt. Where this most recent season is concerned, Yamamoto went 16-6 with a 1.21 ERA and 0.88 WHIP with 169 strikeouts across 164 innings pitched. That effort was good enough to make him the second pitcher to win three straight Sawamura Awards. With more than $1 billion spent this offseason, the Dodgers have gone from an already solid ball club to the clear favorites to win the World Series.