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According to reports, the Boston Red Sox have made free agent starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto a huge contract offer worth more than $300 million.
We've also learned recently that Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida has helped in the recruiting efforts.
Per Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe:
Just saw a television interview Masataka Yoshida did in Japan. Said he met with Yamamoto to discuss playing in the US. Also acknowledged his need to improve and steps he’s taking in terms of conditioning, etc. Nothing too surprising, but he did meet with Yamamoto.
Just saw a television interview Masataka Yoshida did in Japan. Said he met with Yamamoto to discuss playing in the US. Also acknowledged his need to improve and steps he’s taking in terms of conditioning, etc. Nothing too surprising, but he did meet with Yamamoto.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) December 18, 2023
To Abraham's point, that's not surprising. The two are both from Japan so it makes sense that they would talk and it makes sense that the Red Sox would want Yoshida to help make the push.
While we can't be certain what Yoshida said, you can imagine that the Red Sox' biggest selling points are the history of the organization, the history of winning in Boston and the ability for Yamamoto to headline the starting rotation. If he were to sign with the Sox, he'd instantly slot in as the No. 1 rotation option, ahead of Chris Sale, Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta and other possible candidates like Kutter Crawford, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck.
At 25 years old, Yamamoto is one of the most coveted free agents in recent memory, ranking only behind Shohei Ohtani in this years free agent class.
Yamamoto had a 1.16 ERA in the NPB this past season and also helped Team Japan win the World Baseball Classic last March.
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