New York Mets Among Teams Interested in Japanese Phenom

MLB insider reports that the New York Mets are showing major interest in acquiring Japanese phenom this offseason.

Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani has doing things in recent years the MLB has never seen before. Clubs across the entire league are kicking themselves for missing out on signing him to their franchise when they had the chance.

Now, there's another phenom in Japan who is turning heads and teams are flocking to see him pitch in person.

MLB Insider Jon Heyman reports that the New York Mets are one of those teams showing major interest in starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They made the trip to Japan to see him pitch on Wednesday.

The right hander impressed in the game, throwing seven scoreless innings. His pitch arsenal includes a fastball that reaches 97 mph, a cutter, curveball and splitter.

Yamamoto is coming off two consecutive seasons where he won the Eiji Sawamura Award, given out to the best pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball, two consecutive Pacific League MVP awards and two consecutive pitching Triple Crowns for having the most wins, strikeouts and lowest ERA in the same season.

He has continued his dominance this season for the Orix Buffaloes, posting a record of 12-5 with a 1.42 ERA.

The Buffaloes are expected to make the 24-year-old phenom available for major league teams to make offers to sign him. The market is expected to be massive if that happens and could create a bidding war to land the next great pitcher.

The Mets are no stranger to signing Japanese players. They recently signed Kodai Senga to a five-year, $75 million contract this past offseason. The righty has performed well his first season in the majors, recording a record of 10-6 with a 3.19 ERA. His performance his rookie season could make New York even more interested in aggressively pursuing Yamamoto.

Along with the Mets, nine other major league clubs were in attendance to see the phenom pitch in person on Wednesday.

His availability is something to monitor throughout the offseason as New York continues to show interest in signing him to their club. Senga could play a factor in both the pursuit of Yamamoto and upcoming free agent Ohtani.