What Made The Dodgers’ Recruitment of Yoshinobu Yamamoto ‘Unique’?
As the Dodgers jockeyed for position to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto in December, the free agent pitcher scheduled visits to Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.
The Dodgers reportedly sent all their stars to Dodger Stadium as part of their recruiting efforts: recently-signed Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Will Smith. Certainly fans were heartened to see some of their favorite players join the cause of signing a coveted free agent.
But did the Dodgers’ player contingent truly separate them from the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, New York Yankees, and other teams bidding to sign Yamamoto?
Yamamoto’s agent, Joel Wolfe of Wasserman, clarified what made the Dodgers’ in-person recruiting of his client special.
What was unique about the Dodgers was he met here at the stadium, so it was a little less formal because he was walking around the field and the clubhouse. Some teams had the players FaceTime, send videos.
Joel Wolfe, Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s agent
As for how many stars the Dodgers sent to the stadium for their in-person visit, that might not have been as much of a separator as it seemed at the time.
We were very discreet about sharing that information out of respect to those players. Also, it can be awkward for a player who’s being recruited — I’ve had this with other free agents, too — because then if they don’t sign with that team, they feel it can be uncomfortable later. We minimize the talk about that. It’s safe to say star players from every organization weighed in, in some way, to try and recruit him.
Joel Wolfe, Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s agent
The Dodgers’ pitch was ultimately successful. Yamamoto signed a 12-year, $325 million contract last week, giving the Dodgers a potential rotation ace through Yamamoto’s age-36 season.
Regardless of how much the presence of Yamamoto’s future teammates helped convince him to become a Dodger, he can look back on his visit as quality bonding time in advance of the biggest transition of his career.
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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