In their quest to sign the Japanese sensation this offseason, the New York Mets appear to be up against a team in their division.
For a while, it appeared as though the New York Mets, New York Yankees, and Los Angeles Dodgers would compete to see who could put up the best offer for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Japanese sensation.
Shohei Ohtani’s enormous $700 million contract was signed with a deferred contract structure, which allowed the Dodgers to spend more on other free agents.
No one in this sport has more money than the owner of the New York Mets, Steve Cohen, and the Yankees are no exception.
But none of these teams made the initial approach to sign Yamamoto.
The Philadelphia Phillies, who play in the same division as New York, are the ones who offered the phenom a contract, according to Matt Gelb of The Athletic.
This is unexpected given that the Phillies have the largest payroll in team history as they head into 2024 and were able to re-sign their ace, Aaron Nola, to a seven-year, $172 million contract this offseason.
Nevertheless, despite their president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, stating that their rotation is already set, they apparently became enamored with Yamamoto and chose to make an offer.
According to Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, “A source with direct knowledge of the team’s thinking said they were planning to be “aggressive,” even though it is unlikely that the Phillies will make the highest bid for Yamamoto.
Something should happen soon, as the Mets are still working out the details of how much money they are willing to give.
After all, before the January 4 deadline, Yamamoto needs to select which team he will sign with.