You knew the Los Angeles Dodgers had money to spare even after signing Shohei Ohtani to a $700 million deal, thanks to the pitcher/slugger agreeing to take a ton of deferred money to help the team win now.
And they’ve used that cash to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto to an astounding 12-year (!) $325 million (!!) contract late on Thursday night. There was talk that the contract for the 25-year-old Japanese hurler could go over $300 million and that’s exactly what happened as the reported bidding got higher and higher.
The big surprise is the amount of years, but we’ll get to that. Here are the winners and losers of this deal:
Winners: The Dodgers, duh
They now have a ridiculously stacked roster and a rotation that’s mega-deep and talented. Look out.
Winners: Young pitchers who want really long-term deals
Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes and the franchise’s management, take a bow. You’ve changed the free-agency game in baseball completely between the deferred money for Ohtani and this length of a contract for a pitcher.
Now: Teams usually don’t have pitchers this age and caliber on the free-agency market, but I’m wondering if hurlers and their agents can point to this deal and say, “He got 12 years! How about me?” if they’re THAT good.
Welp.
Winners: Shohei Ohtani
If I’m Ohtani and I deferred like 98 percent of my salary until I’m like 45 years old, I’d like to see that money get spent the right way. Well, here you go.
Losers: The New York Mets
They did what they could to match the price and years, and the star pitcher chose L.A. It stinks, but they tried.
The Mets offered Yoshinobu Yamamoto a 12-year, $325 million deal with an opt-out after 5 years.@martinonyc joins @emacSNY on @Honda SportsNite to explain how Yamamoto's market ended up playing out: https://t.co/kLPTfZYuAu pic.twitter.com/eiQbdKRaUq
— SNY (@SNYtv) December 22, 2023
Losers: The New York Yankees
They tried, but less hard:
"It wasn't with the same aggressiveness that they pursued the Soto trade. They were at $300 million, but they weren't going to bid up from there. That tells you that they wanted him, but not beyond any reasonable doubt."@martinonyc joins @emacSNY on @Honda SportsNite to explain… pic.twitter.com/jG1UYUzuUf
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) December 22, 2023
Losers: The National League
Look, anything can happen in the playoffs and health luck is always a factor. But if you’re an N.L. contender like the Atlanta Braves, you’re a little nervous. Maybe a lot nervous.
