LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers made a rich winter spending spree by signing right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year contract and teaming up with prized free agent Shohei Ohtani.
What you need to know
- Yamamoto, 25, was coveted by teams across the majors after opting to leave the Orix Buffaloes this offseason.
- Yamamoto has achieved remarkable results in Japan’s top league in recent years, winning the Most Valuable Player Award in the Japan Pacific League for three consecutive years.
- Yamamoto has thrown two no-hitters in the past two years and has a career ERA of 1.72.
- The Dodgers had a major pitching need after a series of devastating injuries and setbacks this season.
The Dodgers did not disclose the value of the contract announced Wednesday, but multiple media reports put the deal at $325 million. The contract is the largest and longest ever guaranteed to a major league pitcher.
Yamamoto, 25, was coveted by teams across the majors after choosing to leave the Orix Buffaloes this offseason. The Dodgers, who spend a lot of money but lack pitching talent, acquired him in a huge contract after already acquiring AL MVP two-way pitcher Ohtani and Tampa Bay right-hander Tyler Glasnow this month.
Yamamoto has achieved remarkable results in Japan’s top league in recent years, winning the Most Valuable Player Award in the Japan Pacific League for three consecutive years. This year, he had a record of 16 wins, 6 losses, an ERA of 1.21, 169 strikeouts, and only 28 walks, leading the league in wins, strikeouts, and ERA, winning the Japanese pitcher’s triple crown.
Yamamoto has thrown two no-hitters in the past two years and has an ERA of 1.72. He is very good at limiting opponents’ power, allowing just 36 home runs in seven seasons in Japan.
The contracts the Dodgers gave to Ohtani, Yamamoto and Glasnow are potentially worth well over $1.1 billion, but the two Japanese superstars generate significant international revenue that more than offsets the cost of their contracts. . Los Angeles is also one of the richest teams in the majors, owned by Mark Walter’s Guggenheim Baseball Management.
The Dodgers had a huge need for pitchers this season after a series of devastating injuries and setbacks. Los Angeles still won 100 games despite the injury-plagued Clayton Kershaw being the only starting pitcher to pitch more than 125 innings or record a qualifying ERA below 3.75.
Yamamoto and Glasnow will be added to the Dodgers’ rotation immediately, but Ohtani is highly unlikely to pitch in 2024 after undergoing a second elbow surgery in the offseason.