Yoshinobu Yamamoto has found his new home.
Yamamoto and the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a 12-year, $325-million deal, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports. The deal is still pending a physical, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.
The Dodgers will pay an additional $50.6 million for the posting fee, Passan adds.
The 25-year-old received a similar 12-year, $325-million offer from the New York Mets, sources told The Athletic’s Will Sammon. The New York Yankees also offered him $300 million over an undisclosed number of years, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman.
Yamamoto’s deal is the largest for a pitcher in MLB history, beating Gerrit Cole’s free-agent pact with the New York Yankees by $1 million. The contract also includes a pair of opt-out clauses for Yamamoto, according to Passan.
The three-time Eiji Sawamura award winner – Japan’s Cy Young equivalent – comes to North America after a tremendous seven-year career with the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball, where he authored a 75-30 record with a 1.72 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 967 2/3 innings.
He’ll join a stacked Dodgers team that already spent $700 million on Shohei Ohtani and inked flamethrower Tyler Glasnow to a four-year, $110-million contract extension after acquiring him in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Dodgers’ projected rotation
| PITCHER | THROWS |
|---|---|
| Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Right |
| Tyler Glasnow | Right |
| Walker Buehler | Right |
| Bobby Miller | Right |
| Emmet Sheehan | Right |
Dodgers’ projected lineup
| ORDER | POS. | PLAYER | BATS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2B | Mookie Betts | R |
| 2 | DH | Shohei Ohtani | L |
| 3 | 1B | Freddie Freeman | L |
| 4 | C | Will Smith | R |
| 5 | 3B | Max Muncy | L |
| 6 | CF | James Outman | L |
| 7 | LF | Chris Taylor | R |
| 8 | RF | Jason Heyward | L |
| 9 | SS | Gavin Lux | L |
The Mets, Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, and Toronto Blue Jays all showed interest in Yamamoto at various points in the offseason.
