Dodgers overwhelming World Series, NL favorites
When Shohei Ohtani accepted a contract with a whole lot of deferred money, it seemed like the only logical landing place for fellow Japanese player Yoshinobu Yamamoto would be with the Dodgers. That thought became a reality late Thursday night when Yamamoto signed a 12-year, $325 million contract with Los Angeles.
The contract includes a $50 million signing bonus, plus the $50.6 million posting fee to the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball. Yamamoto’s contract is $1 million higher than the one that Gerrit Cole signed with the Yankees, making it the largest free agent deal ever for a pitcher.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto stats
The 5-foot-10 right-hander comes over to the United States with very heavy expectations. The 25-year-old debuted at 18 and posted a 1.82 ERA with 922 strikeouts in 897 innings pitched in the NPB. He only allowed 633 hits over 172 career appearances. He has been the Pacific League MVP in each of the last three seasons, posting ERAs of 1.39, 1.68, and 1.16 over 193.2, 193, and 171 innings pitched.
The fact that Yamamoto has been so durable and has run up high innings counts had to be a big selling point for the Dodgers and all of the other interested teams. Kodai Senga, who made his MLB debut with the Mets this past season, only worked 177 or more innings twice, plus he was already 30 at the start of his MLB career. Yamamoto is five years younger and has had an MLB-caliber workload.