Red Sox

Red Sox reportedly had meeting with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, decision could come soon

The Red Sox were one of several teams to meet with the star Japanese pitcher in California this week.

By Conor Roche

December 16, 2023

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The sweepstakes for Yoshinobu Yamamoto appear to be winding down, but the Red Sox have made their pitch for the Japanese phenom.

The Red Sox have held their meeting with Yamamoto and he could make his decision in the next few days, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported Saturday.

It’s unclear when the Red Sox held their meeting with Yamamoto. It was reported earlier in the week that they had a meeting planned with Yamamoto in California. As of Thursday, the Red Sox had either met or were still planning to meet with Yamamoto, The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reported.

Yamamoto reportedly held his meetings with the Red Sox and other teams in California during the week, hosting the Yankees, Dodgers, Giants, and Blue Jays at the same location. Los Angeles reportedly had Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and new Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani present at its meeting with Yamamoto. The Mets also held a meeting with him earlier in December when owner Steve Cohen flew out to Japan to see Yamamoto, The Athletic‘s Will Sammon reported.

The Red Sox haven’t been viewed as among the favorites to sign Yamamoto as of late. The “consensus all winter” was that the Mets were the favorites to sign Yamamoto, but some now believe the Yankees are ahead in the race, Feinsand reported. The Yankees and Dodgers have also been considered to be “co-favorites,” the New York Post‘s Jon Heyman reported.

However, there was a rumor that percolated on social media on Saturday that the Red Sox made an offer of over $300 million to Yamamoto. Even though the 25-year-old’s yet to throw an MLB pitch, it’s “increasingly likely” that Yamamoto will receive a contract in that range, The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal reported.

If Yamamoto does receive a contract for over $300 million, he could possibly receive the largest contract for a pitcher in MLB history. Gerrit Cole’s nine-year, $324 million deal that he signed with the Yankees is the largest contract given to a pitcher to date.

The Red Sox’ pursuit of Yamamoto has had other effects on their offseason. Because Boston possibly has a large offer tied to Yamamoto, that’s hampered its ability to make a large offer to Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, according to Speier.

So, the news of Yamamoto’s decision possibly coming in the next few days could help get the ball rolling for the Red Sox’ and the rest of the free-agency pitching market. In the event that Yamamoto is the next big domino to fall, Snell and Montgomery would be the top two free-agent pitchers left on the market.

But some of the other options beyond those two are dropping off the board. The Royals came to terms on deals with Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha over the last few days. The Diamondbacks already snagged up Eduardo Rodriguez while Aaron Nola opted to remain in Philadelphia in the opening weeks of the offseason. Sonny Gray was just one of three free-agent starting pitchers that the Cardinals signed in a matter of days.

The Red Sox have also been linked to free-agent starting pitchers Shōta Imanaga and Lucas Giolito.