One Team Eliminated From Yamamoto Sweepstakes

The time is getting near for the top free agent pitcher of this offseason to decide on his major league home. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been courted by a number of big-spending teams, and with the list dwindling down to a small handful of favorites, the Japanese superstar has now eliminated the San Francisco Giants from the bidding.

The Giants have been told they’re out of the bidding for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, per @PavlovicNBCS

The expectation is that he will end up in Los Angeles or New York pic.twitter.com/VYZxPfhzKh
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) December 22, 2023

According to Giants beat writer Alex Pavlovic, the team in The Bay has been told they're out of the running.

That would appear to leave the New York Yankees, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers as the three finalists. A wild rumor earlier on Thursday suggested that LA might have gotten an upper hand, when word spread that Yamamoto would join newest Dodgers Shohei Ohtani in attending the LA Rams NFL game. But that rumor was shot down.

Andy Martino of SNY on Thursday said the Yankees and Dodgers are in "good shape" to land the 3-time Japanese league MVP, while the Mets "have a shot" at him.

Another report claims there's already been one offer in excess of $300M.

The 25-year-old sensation finished 2023 in Japan with a 1.21 ERA. He allowed just two home runs, while striking out more a batter an inning in his 164 innings of work.

Photo: Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports