The Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes was won by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
They had their guy, who would partner with Shohei Ohtani at the top of the rotation for years to come, for $325 million spread over 12 years.
They defeated the New York Yankees and Mets in the race to sign him.
Among the teams who pursued Yamamoto the hardest were the Mets, who went to Japan to meet with him before anybody else and then welcomed him and his squad in New York.
It was extremely evident that the Mets wanted to sign Yamamoto.
Owner Steve Cohen expressed his lack of remorse in a conversation with team insider Mike Puma.
“Steve Cohen spoke with Mike Puma of The New York Post on missing out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto: ‘I think the whole organization tried our hardest, and someone was going to win and someone was going to lose and that is the way it goes. I feel good about our efforts and I left it all on the field. Life goes on,’” SNY Mets tweeted, with Cohen’s remarks.
The owner also gave an update on the Mets’ future plans.
“We’re going to be thoughtful and not impulsive and thinking about sustainability over the intermediate long-term, but not focused on winning the headlines over the next week. I think there’s a couple of ways to build a team,” he stated.