Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Orix Buffaloes), who is considered the best starting pitcher in Japanese Professional Baseball (NPB) history, is attracting attention as it is predicted that he will sign a huge contract worth around $200 million this offseason and advance to the major league. .
On the 9th (hereinafter Korean time), Major League Trade Rumors (MLBTR) published an article titled, ‘The St. Louis Cardinals are interested in free agent pitchers such as Aaron Nola and Sonny Gray,’ and stated, ‘Nola and Gray signed quite reasonable contracts. It seems like it will. It is difficult to imagine a contract at the level of Shohei Ohtani, who did not pitch next year due to elbow surgery, and it is not at the level of Yamamoto, who is only 25 years old and is likely to receive a contract worth close to $200 million.’
St. Louis, which ranked last in the NL Central Division due to a collapse in its starting lineup this season, is expected to focus on strengthening its rotation this winter. Among this year’s starting pitchers, Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty were traded last summer, Adam Wainwright is retiring at the end of this season, and the only reliable starters are Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz.
In a recent season-ending interview, St. Louis President John Mozeliak said, “Reinforcing three starting pitchers is the main task this offseason.”
Derek Gould, a local media reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dismatch, reported that Nola and Gray are a perfect fit for the Cardinals, so the club will make plans to find out what the two players think.
Nola and Gray are considered top free agent starting pitchers. In MLB.com’s free agent rankings, Nola was rated 6th overall and 2nd among starting pitchers. Another media outlet, CBS Sports Rankings, ranked Nola 5th overall and 2nd as a starter, and Gray ranked 12th overall and 8th as a starter.토토사이트
MLBTR said, ‘Nola and Gray are expected to become free agents for the first time in their lives and receive a qualifying offer (QO). If they recruit them, the Cardinals will have to give up an international bonus of $500,000 and the second pick in next year’s draft,’ and ‘The Cardinals will select Yamamoto. “It is one of the teams we have been observing, but it appears that they will also consider reuniting with Montgomery.”
At the same time, it was predicted that Yamamoto’s ransom would reach $200 million. This is too expensive for St. Louis to afford, and MLBTR believes that, like Otani, Yamamoto is also out of the area of interest. On the other hand, the size of Nola and Gray’s free agent contracts is expected to be approximately $50 million to $100 million.
Minnesota Twins Sonny Gray starts the second game of the wild card series against the Toronto Blue Jays on the 5th (Korean time) and is throwing the ball vigorously. AP Yonhap News
Yamamoto started 23 games this season and pitched 164 innings, recording 16 wins and 6 losses, an ERA of 1.21, a winning percentage of 0.727, and 169 strikeouts. He led the Pacific League in most wins, earned run average, strikeouts, and winning percentage.
Starting in 2021, he is expected to win four awards as a Pacific League pitcher for three consecutive years, so he is likely to win MVP for three consecutive years. Before entering the major leagues, no Asian player achieved results as close to perfection as Yamamoto. Accordingly, Yamamoto is expected to break the 7-year, $155 million record, the highest salary for an Asian player, set by Masahiro Tanaka when he joined the New York Yankees in 2014.
Yamamoto ranked second after Ohtani in the CBS Sports free agent rankings. He was rated much higher than Nola and Montgomery, as well as Blake Snell (6th overall), who booked the NL Cy Young Award this year. New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman visited Japan on the 9th of last month and received a lot of attention when he watched Yamamoto achieve a no-hitter and no run against the Chiba Lotte Marines.
Yamamoto plans to enter the major league through the posting system after the Japan Series ends. The posting date is early December.