Wow…after going through the last offseason with the Dodgers not signing anyone of great value… this year the gloves are off. They signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto for 325 million for 12 years…it’s very risky signing pitchers but he is only...
Wow…after going through the last offseason with the Dodgers not signing anyone of great value… this year the gloves are off. They signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto for 325 million for 12 years…it’s very risky signing pitchers but he is only 25 years old so that is a great thing.
I’ve read that the Dodgers President Andrew Friedman will only give out big contracts to players that are huge difference makers…well he accomplished that. The Dodgers still have a team full of homegrown Dodgers and more are on their way with the farm system they have made. That is the big difference in what the Padres did a few years ago…they traded their top-rated farm team away for superstars and they had nothing left to replace some below-average players they had left.
This is the longest contract they ever handed out to a pitcher (not counting Ohtani)…the owner Mark Walter has said that “pitchers break.” Here is hoping that Yamamoto doesn’t any time soon…but 25 is about as good as it gets.
I thought he would go to the Yankees, Blue Jays, or Mets. All of the offers were around the same mark. I thought Ohtani would have been a deterrent more than an asset because I didn’t think he would want to share the stage with another Japanese player.
Now the pitching rotation will be Yamamoto, Buehler, Miller, Glasnow, and Sheehan, and maybe Kershaw if he comes back. Every year they seemed to lose out on the huge free agents they went after like Gerrit Cole, Bryce Harper, and more. This year they have hit the jackpot with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Ohtani, and to a degree Glasnow. It is an embarrassment of riches with those pitchers.
It looks like this contract will have deferred money also…it would almost have to so they can get under the tax. I don’t think the Dodgers will go broke though…the owners are worth over 300 billion dollars.
As a Dodger fan…yes I’m happy. I’ve been waiting for the Dodgers to grab some great players but I never expected them to do it in one year. What makes it even better… is the Dodgers ended the year last year with their farm system ranked 3rd by Baseball America. They are going to rely on the system for a few years after this spending spree.
Sorry…I can’t resist
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