The New York Yankees made a serious push for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, offering the Japanese pitcher $300 million over 10 years, sources told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
The Yankees’ reported offer included an earlier opt-out and more money in the first five years than the deal Yamamoto signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.
Yamamoto’s deal with the Dodgers is for 13 years and worth $325 million, including a $50-million signing bonus and a $50.6-million posting fee.
New York would’ve committed around $200 million over the first five years of Yamamoto’s deal when factoring in the posting fee, but it didn’t offer a $50-million signing bonus, Rosenthal adds.
Had he accepted the Yankees’ offer, Yamamoto would’ve remained behind Gerrit Cole as MLB’s highest-paid pitcher. With his current deal, he instead surpasses New York’s ace by $1 million.
Yamamoto also received a 12-year, $325-million offer from the New York Mets.
The three-time Eiji Sawamura Award winner – Japan’s Cy Young equivalent – authored a 1.72 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 967 2/3 innings for the Orix Buffaloes from 2017-23.
