Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida 'Close' With Top Free Agent, Primed For Recruiting Pitch

Boston could use all the help it can get to land the Japanese ace

Scott Neville | Sep 11, 2023

Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida 'Close' With Top Free Agent, Primed For Recruiting Pitch /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have spent the last few seasons spending modestly and staying right around the luxury tax threshold.

After a season in which they just barely climbed over the tax in 2022, Boston dipped under for 2023. With the penalties reset, the Red Sox should be primed for relatively free spending for the next two seasons.

The biggest priority for the Red Sox will be their pitching staff, which needs an almost fully renovated rotation. Fortunately, the biggest free-agent prize from last offseason could help land them their top target this winter: Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

The 25-year-old ace is coming off a no-hitter and 42 consecutive innings pitched without an earned run in the Nippon Professional Baseball League.

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.

The flame-throwing righty played with Masataka Yoshida for six seasons with the Buffaloes and then again in the World Baseball Classic this spring. Yoshida revealed details of their relationship.

“We’re close to each other," Yoshida told the Boston Herald's Mac Cerullo. "We’ve played (together) for a long time."

Yoshida noted that they still keep in touch and have a good relationship. When asked about the possibility of reuniting in Boston, Yoshida was certainly for it but will be happy to see him stateside wherever he lands.

“If it happens that would be cool, that’s his baseball life, so I hope he’ll be well in any team he goes,” Yoshida said. “I’m so excited to see him again.”

The Red Sox have scouted Yamamoto thoroughly and have been long-rumored to be a logical landing spot for the young hurler. However, the injury to impending free-agent and two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani complicates matters.

With Ohtani unable to pitch next season, Yamamoto's arm will be even more coveted. The New York Yankees are expected to make a strong pursuit, as well as the Los Angeles Dodgers, and possibly the New York Mets.

While money will do most of the talking, Yoshida's ability to aid in the recruiting efforts cannot be understated.

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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