Japanese pitching sensation Yamamoto posts for MLB free agency
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[November 21, 2023]
(Reuters) - Yoshinobu Yamamoto is poised to become Major League
Baseball's next big Japanese star after the 25-year-old pitching
sensation posted as a free agent on Monday.
The right-hander is expected to set off a bidding war among the league's
richest clubs looking to upgrade their starting rotations and could
command a long-term contract worth north of $200 million.
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Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Baseball - Men - Semifinal - South Korea v Japan -
Yokohama Baseball Stadium, Yokohama, Japan - August 4, 2021. Yoshinobu
Yamamoto of Japan in action. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo |
Yamamoto was posted on Monday by the Orix
Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) where he is a
three-time winner of the Eiji Sawamura Award, which is
equivalent to MLB's Cy Young Award.
This year he went 16-6 with a 1.21 ERA and captured his third
straight Triple Crown in the NPB's Pacific League as the leader
in wins, ERA and strikeouts.
He won a gold medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and helped Japan
to victory at the World Baseball Classic earlier this year.
Per MLB rules, the window for teams to bid on Yamamoto opens on
Tuesday and closes on Jan. 4.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in San Francisco; Editing by Chizu
Nomiyama)
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