Yoshinobu Yamamoto Wanted to Play for the Dodgers and With Shohei Ohtani All Along

The dream offseason for the Dodgers has come to fruition with the team signing both two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani and Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Both players give the Dodgers major upgrades across the roster, and they are now the favorites to win the World Series next season.

The Dodgers are now also Japan’s team in Major League Baseball, and have the direct path to winning over the entire baseball fan base in the country. With both Ohtani and Yamamoto in the mix, Los Angeles has circled the international market extremely well.

There was a major push toward thinking that Yamamoto would join the New York Yankees or New York Mets this offseason, but in the end, he chose L.A. The Mets’ offer was identical to the Dodgers, and the Yankees’ was slightly lower, but with a higher AAV.

MLB Insider Jon Morosi of MLB Network has reported that Yamamoto wanted to play for the Dodgers alongside Ohtani.

“I was told simply by a source who knows the Japanese baseball scene very well, Yamamoto simply wanted to be a Dodger and play with Ohtani, in no particular order.”

There was a lot of talk earlier in the offseason that the Dodgers could land both Ohtani and Yamamoto, but some pushed back on that narrative. L.A. made it happen, and landing Ohtani seemed to be the signing that pushed them over the top.

The massive deferrals in Ohtani’s contract allowed the signing of Yamamoto to happen, and this is exactly the type of player Ohtani had in mind when he agreed to them. Yamamoto is a true game-changer of a pitcher for L.A., and he will headline their rotation for years to come.

Being only 25 years old, he represented a rare opportunity for clubs to get a starter entering the prime of their career. It’s why there were so many teams after him, and why the serious contract offers for him were all at $300 million or higher.

The Dodgers got their guy, and now have real strength in their rotation once again. The Dodgers’ front office put in work this offseason, and it’s culminated with them landing the top two free agents on the open market.

Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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