Red Sox-Yankees Bidding War Could Be Coming For Prized Free Agent This Winter

Both sides would greatly benefit from the Japanese ace

Scott Neville | Sep 11, 2023

Red Sox-Yankees Bidding War Could Be Coming For Prized Free Agent This Winter /

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The Boston Red Sox will enter the offseason with a reset luxury tax and a real reason to spend heavily for the first time since chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom took over prior to the 2020 season.

It's likely that Bloom will have the biggest budget he's had during his reign and he'll spend the vast majority of his resources on upgrading the rotation if he plans on keeping his job beyond 2024.

Unfortunately, it appears that one of the Red Sox's top targets also will be heavily pursued by the New York Yankees -- and there's a good chance the historic rivalry pours into the offseason. Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be posted this winter and be among the most-coveted free agents in baseball.

The Yankees' offer is expected to be significantly higher than the seven-year, $155 million contract given to Masahiro Tanaka in 2013 according to Yahoo Japan, in a translated article.

The Yankees seemingly are quite bullish on Yamamoto but they have much more pressing needs all around the diamond. The organization has invested heavily into their pitching staff already and cannot hit to save their lives.

Boston will be as motivated to upgrade their rotation as any team in the league, and will finally be able to spend freely in their attempt to do so. The Red Sox have been mentioned in the same breath as the hard-throwing right-hander for months and appear to be among the most interested in Yamamoto.

Why is the interest so high for Yamamoto? Yamamoto is 14-5 with a 1.26 ERA, 145-to-24 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 0.88 WHIP in 143 innings pitched this season for the Orix Buffaloes. He is on his way to capturing his third Pacific League MVP in a row as a superstar in the Nippon Professional Baseball League and appears to be one of the best pitchers in the world at just 25 years old.

Yamamoto's free-agent frenzy will be one of the biggest storylines of the offseason. Teams like the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers are expected to get into the mix, among many others. However, there is a real chance the bidding war comes down to the Red Sox versus the Yankees -- two teams highly motivated to get out of the basement of the American League East.

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Published Sep 11, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu