New York Mets Should Get Call with Japanese Star Soon

The first steps in the pursuit of Japanese star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto should begin next week.

The New York Mets can expect to have a call with the representatives of free-agent Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto next week, assuming that the Mets are still interested in pursuing the star pitcher.

That’s the timeline that SNY reported on Saturday. It’s the first step for any team that is interested in signing Yamamoto this offseason.

Per SNY, any team that has expressed an interest in talking with Yamamoto will have either a Zoom call or phone call with him and his agent, Joel Wolfe, next week.

Wolfe told the Kyodo News that anywhere from “11 to 14 teams” reached out to him about Yamamoto in the first 24 hours after he was posted by the Orix Buffaloes.

Those phone calls will give Yamamoto — and presumably the Mets — time to figure on the next step.

But not too much time.

After the initial round of calls, the expectation is that Yamamoto will come to the U.S. By then, he and his agent will have determined the “finalists” they want to talk with in person.

But don’t expect a feeding frenzy at the winter meetings in Nashville Dec. 4-7. Reportedly, there will be no meetings between Yamamoto and potential landing spots until after the meetings are complete.

That may be strategic on the part of Yamamoto’s representatives. By waiting a little longer, it could give them leverage to squeeze a bit more out of the team he signs with, even though he’s expected to sign a deal worth north of $200 million, which doesn’t include the posting fee paid to his Japanese team, the Orix Buffaloes.

That could also influence the rest of the pitching market. For those teams that know they’re out on Yamamoto, they could pursue other options, either in free agency or trade. If those deals get done fast, the pressure builds on the remaining teams pursuing Yamamoto.

There is no timeline to get a deal done. But Yamamoto must get a deal done before Jan. 4 or his rights revert back to the Buffaloes.

At 25 years old, Yamamoto has a 70-29 record. He has a mid-90s fastball, but he is best known for an array of breaking pitches that can befuddle hitters. This season he had just a 1.21 ERA. He also went 16-6 and struck out 169 hitters in 164 innings.

Yamamoto just wrapped up play in the Japan Series, their country’s equivalent of the World Series. His final game saw him strike out 14 hitters in Game 6, which set a series record.

Yamamoto has thrown two no-hitters in his career. He’s also won gold medals for Japan in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.