NPB ace is in the proce s of meeting with interested MLB clubs and is slated to meet with both the Red Sox and Blue Jays in the coming days, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Yamamoto met with the Yankees yesterday and the Giants on Sunday. Mets owner Steve Cohen reportedly flew to Japan to meet with Yamamoto before his current slate of team visits in North America. Thats a total of five known teams meeting with Yamamoto, and Feinsand suggests another two or three teams could also hold meetings. The Blue Jays, after mi sing out on , figure to have both the motivation and money to pursue a significant upgrade (or upgrades) to other areas of the roster. Yamamoto obviously wouldnt impact the 2024 lineup like signing Ohtani would have, but installing him into a rotation that Borussia Dortmund Jersey also features , and would make for a formidable top four. If can regain his 2022 form or if can continue his 2023 performance levels, a Toronto rotation including Yamamoto could rank as one of the best in the game and have solid depth beyond the top quintet. Over in Boston, the need is arguably more acute. The Red Sox rotation is rife with question marks, perhaps none bigger than what the team can expect from oft-injured top starter . The 34-year-old lefty was serviceable in 2023 when healthy, but he was again limited by injury. Last years 120 2/3 innings were Sales most since 2019. He posted a 4.30 ERA in that time, albeit with excellent strikeout and walk rates of 29.4% and 6.6%, respectively. Beyond Sale, Bostons rotation ranges from inexperienced to inconsistent; , , and are all in the mix for innings. Both teams can likely fit a ma sive commitment to Yamamoto onto the long-term books without significant i sue. Doing so for the Jays would raise further questions about the teams ability and/or desire to extend cornerstones and , but those questions will exist in some regard anyway, as both are now two years from free agency and still going year-to-year in arbitration. Toronto will see Kikuchi and reliever come off the books in 2025. Ba sitt, Bichette, Guerrero and are all off the books come 2026. Roster Resource pegs the Blue Jays payroll commitments over the next three years at approximately $203MM, $116MM and $65MM. Berrios is their only player signed beyond 2026. For the Red Sox, the long-term outlook is similarly open for a sizable free-agent deal. Sales $145MM contract expires after the upcoming 2024 season. , and are all signed through at least 2027. However, as it stands, the Sox only have about $76MM on the books in 25 and similar or declining totals thereafter. That payroll outlook, combined with the considerable uncertainty that permeates the starting staff, is why the Sox are active in top tiers of the rotation market and have been prominently linked to the likes of Yamamoto and . Yamamoto, 25, is among the most sought-after players to ever make the jump from Nippon Profe sional Baseball to Major League Baseball. Hes won three straight MVP Awards and Sawamura Awards (NPBs Cy Young equivalent) and just wrapped up a season that saw him post a 1.21 ERA in 164 innings. Yamamoto has a career 1.72 ERA in seven NPB seasons, including sub-2.00 marks in four of his past five campaigns. MLB scouts and evaluators generally view him as a legitimate No. 1-2 starter in a big league rotation. A contract north of $200MM has long seemed plausible, but recent speculation about a deal closer to $300MM has begun to arise. Because Yamamoto has under nine years of NPB service, hes only available to MLB clubs via the MLB/NPB posting system. Any team that signs Yamamoto will not only owe him the value of the contract agreed upon by the two parties, but also a release fee to the Orix Buffaloes Yamamotos now-former team. That fee is equivalent to 20% of the contract first $25MM ($5MM), 17.5% of the next $25MM ($4.375MM) and 15% of any dollars paid to Yamamoto thereafter. Premier League Jersey