Philadelphia Phillies Meet With Japanese Pitching Phenom

It was long rumored that the Philadelphia Phillies had major interest in the Japanese starting pitcher and they have been able to meet with him in free agency.

When Aaron Nola was still on the market and the Philadelphia Phillies didn't know where they stood in the re-signing conversations, one player they were rumored to be extremely interested in was Japanese phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

The right-hander is one of the best players that has ever been posted by his NPB team and will play in the United States at the rare age of 25.

Once the Phillies agreed to a seven-year, $172 million contract with Nola, the speculation about their interest in Yamamoto started to wane.

But, interest is interest and it's unlike Dave Dombrowski and this owner to not see if they can make a move to acquire someone that they previously had on their radar.

According to Jon Heyman of The New York Post, Philadelphia met with the phenom on Dec. 14, reporting, "Yoshinobu Yamamoto is meeting with a Phillies contingent today."

There are some things that might prevent a potential deal from getting done.

On the Phillies' side, they are on the books for the projected second-highest payroll in all of baseball in 2024 and have six $20 million contracts already slated to be paid in 2025. That's without re-signing Zack Wheeler.

They also don't have a Japanese player on their roster, something that Yamamoto is reportedly looking for in his next team.

Still, money talks and owner John Middleton has shown his willingness to spend.

However, despite this meeting, at least one person within the organization isn't confident about something getting worked out.

"But even one Phillies person wondered how they would pull this off," he reported.

Philadelphia can't be counted out of these sweepstakes now that they had a meeting. But with Nola already signed to contract and the front office no longer feeling pressure to land someone to replace his production, it's unlikely a deal gets done.