Yoshinobu Yamamoto Rumors: Where the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox stand
By Eric Cole
The Dodgers are mulling a huge offer for Yamamoto
Despite signing Ohtani and trading for Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers remain in the hunt for top end starting pitching help. Clayton Kershaw's future is very much in doubt as shoulder surgery will keep him out until at least this summer and their starting rotation is very speculative even with Glasnow in tow given his track record of injuries.
The structure of Ohtani's deal is such that LA continues to have plenty of room on their payroll and they are expected to remain big players for Yamamoto going forward. In fact, the current rumor is that they are already prepared to offer him between $250-300 million which would put them right in line with what observers are expecting him to command on the market.
The SF Giants desperately want to land Yamamoto
It isn't a secret that the Giants want to make a big splash this offseason after missing out on Aaron Judge last offseason and Carlos Correa's deal fell through, but they have found a lot of difficulty in actually pulling that off. Shohei Ohtani spurned them for the Dodgers and while signing Jung Hoo Lee was a nice start, they have yet to land the big name they seek.
Right now, it appears that the Giants are just hoping to hang around in Yamamoto's bidding long enough to be able to woo him with a strong offer. They met with Yamamoto last week and are still in the running, but they are perceived to be behind the New York teams in the pecking order as well. The longer this process takes to play out, it is possible that the Giants' odds will improve especially given that they are on the west coast and are able to pony up at the negotiating table.