The Red Sox’s biggest need this offseason is starting pitching after they finished 22nd among major league teams in starter ERA (4.68) in 2023.
Japanese star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who the Red Sox are expected to pursue, will become a free agent this week, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported.
According to Olney: “Yamamoto is expected to be posted Monday, the source said, and the 45-day process for MLB teams to negotiate with Yamamoto will begin the following day (Tuesday).”
DraftKings gives the Red Sox the second best odds (+400) to sign Yamamoto. The Mets are the favorites at +220.
Yamamoto, a 25-year-old righty, went 17-6 with a 1.16 ERA and 0.86 WHIP in 24 outings (171 innings) for Orix in 2023. He struck out 26.7% of the batters he faced while walking just 4.2%.
He has a 75-30 record, 1.72 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 986 strikeouts and 216 walks in 188 games (967 ⅔ innings) in Japan.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote about the righty’s market, “With the trajectory of the bidding and the teams involved — the Yankees, Mets, Cubs, Red Sox, Dodgers, perhaps San Francisco and Toronto as well — Yamamoto could find himself in their (Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg’s) company, and the separator could be which team is willing to offer him big money and an opt-out clause to further leverage his age.”
Cole signed for eight years, $324 million while Strasburg signed for seven years, $245 million. As Passan noted, those are the two largest contracts ever given out to pitchers.
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MLB Trade Rumors projects that Yamamoto will receive nine years, $225 million. The Athletic’s Jim Bowden projects the righty to receive seven years, $211 million.
The free agent starting pitching market also includes Blake Snell, Sonny Gray, Eduardo Rodriguez, Jordan Montgomery, Aaron Nola, Marcus Stroman, Lucas Giolito, Shōta Imanaga, and Seth Lugo. Two-way star Shohei Ohtani is the best starter on the market but he will only hit in 2024 after undergoing elbow surgery in September.
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