IT BEGINS.
Quite literally in this case, because once Japanese players from the NPB are posted for MLB teams to sign, they have only 45 days to complete a contract. So the countdown on Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto officially begins today:
Yamamoto, as discussed at length, is the top starting pitcher on the market, and is a 25-year-old potential front-two starter. The chance to get a guy like that, who has also been the most dominant pitcher in Japan three straight years running, is one that so many teams will jump on. His contract is likely to exceed $200 million guaranteed, shattering the record for a Japanese pitcher coming over, and then the posting fee on top of that could escalate the total cost to over $250 million.
The Cubs have been connected to Yamamoto a number of times, though so have about 10 other teams. I think the Cubs would love to add a pitcher like Yamamoto, and would even consider stepping up financially to make it happen. The thing is, I also believe the Cubs’ pretty clear priority this offseason is trying to land Shohei Ohtani, and if they were to magically pull that off, I’m not sure they’ll also allocate the massive funds needed to secure Yamamoto (how freaking fun would that be, though, to have Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Seiya Suzuki on the same team?!).
Speaking of which, the very slow timeline by which Yamamoto was actually posted, despite everyone knowing he was coming, was possibly calculated to try to create some distance between Ohtani choosing his team, and then Yamamoto’s deadline coming up. That way, any teams – like the Cubs – that are prioritizing Ohtani can reallocate those funds to Yamamoto if they miss out.