Dave Roberts on Dodgers' Pursuit of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 'Hopefully Everything Lines Up'

The Dodgers are focused on Yamamoto currently.

Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been the talk of the baseball world over the last week, and rightfully so. He is the biggest free agent on the market right now, and everyone is eagerly awaiting his decision.

Yamamoto has met with the majority of the finalist teams, including the Dodgers, and he is expected to make his decision very soon. He is being targeted by all of the big market teams, which is a rarity in the sport.

The two New York teams and the Dodgers are seen as the favorites to land him, but others are involved as well. It's been reported that he prefers to land in a big market, which could help the Dodgers' chances.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show and provided some insight into the teams' pursuit of Yamamoto.

Dave Roberts on the @dpshow:

Dodgers are “absolutely” having Shohei Ohtani recruit Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

“They do have a good relationship. So hopefully everything lines up and it would be quite the offseason.“

Roberts said LA hosted him and thinks they did a “really good job.”

— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) December 15, 2023

Yamamoto seems to be the big target for the Dodgers now after they landed two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani. During their meeting with Yamamoto, Ohtani was present, and he has been recruiting him to come play in Los Angeles.

Ohtani and Yamamoto were teammates on Team Japan during the World Baseball Classic, and they know each other very well. Having Ohtani along with him in L.A. would likely help ease the transition over to the United States for Yamamoto, as well.

The Dodgers' front office's biggest priority has been upgrading their starting pitching. They acquired ace Tyler Glasnow in a trade from the Tampa Bay Rays, but there is still more work to do.

Landing Yamamoto would signal the team going all-in, and he would be a true game-changer for them. He would be the headline guy on this staff for years to come, giving L.A. a real front-line starter.