The Dodgers appear to be ALL IN on Yamamoto... and that's all we can ask for

The team reportedly will be aggressive with their bid

After signing a player to a $700 million contract, you’d think the Dodgers would be done for the offseason.

They might be just getting started.

After landing the No. 1 player on the free agent market in Shoehi Ohtani, the Dodgers are still aggressively pursuing the No. 2 free agent available in pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

The 25-year-old hasn’t thrown a single pitch in the majors yet. Despite that, he could earn a contract that would make him one of the highest paid pitchers in MLB history. There’s a lot of risk, but there’s even more upside.

Yamamoto has won his league's MVP and Cy Young equivalents in each of the last three seasons. He’s been one of the best players in the entire world. In 2023, Yamamoto posted a 1.16 ERA in 24 games. In 171 innings, he struck out 176 while issuing only 28 walks.

Yeah, he’s pretty good.

He’s also only 25 years old. A pitcher of this caliber never enters free agency at this age. You have a chance to add a Cy Young caliber pitcher who could give you at least 6-8 years of elite production. That is almost unprecedented.

After signing Ohtani to a record-breaking contract, you would think that would immediately take the Dodgers out of the running for Yamamoto. Turns out, it’s quite the opposite. They are currently viewed as one of the favorites to land the superstar.

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