Updated Post – August 18, 2023

Mets ace Kodai Senga would help the team recruit right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto when the Japanese star pitcher is posted this offseason, per Mike Puma of the New York Post. Senga has played with Yamamoto multiple times, including Team Japan and All-Star teams, and has known him for four years.

“He still has the rest of the season to get through, healthy hopefully, and the posting system,” Senga said. “I think once that goes through, the team might ask me and [Yamamoto] might ask me as well, and I would like to speak to both of them.”

The Mets are one of the teams that have been thoroughly scouting Yamamoto in hopes of landing the star pitcher when the Orix Buffaloes post him this offseason. Mets GM Billy Eppler has seen Yamamoto play in person, the Mets made a big splash last offseason when they signed Senga to a five-year deal, and Eppler was the GM for the Angels when they signed Shohei Ohtani. Of course, Ohtani will also be a free agent this offseason.

Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports

“It’s very apparent that Billy pays attention to the culture of Japan and knows how to interact with Japanese people well,” Senga said. “I felt that first-handily and his presentation skills are amazing, so I think that could work in the Mets’ favor.”

Yamamoto, 25 on Thursday, is well on his way to winning a third straight Eiji Sawamura (Cy Young equivalent) with a Nippon Professional Baseball-leading 1.50 ERA and is second with 123 strikeouts.

“Everybody on the team is such a great teammate,” Senga said. “I personally am not a very fluent English speaker, but everyone welcomed me with open arms and tries to communicate and I think that would be the same with any other Japanese player if he came to the Mets. I think he would be a great fit and the whole team would welcome him.”

Sources say the Mets are also one of the teams scouting left-hander Shota Imanaga. The 29-year-old has a 2.61 ERA, and his 10.5 K/9 is second among all starting pitchers.

Original Post – July 17, 2023

Sources told me recently that the New York Mets have been one of at least eight teams heavily scouting Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Two other teams scouting Yamamoto are the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies.

Andy Martino of SNY notes that Mets’ GM Billy Eppler has traveled to Japan this year to watch Yamamoto.

Yamamoto, 24, is eligible to be posted by the Orix Buffaloes of the Pacific League in Japan. The right-hander is 9-3 this year with a 1.74 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, and 103 strikeouts compared to only 12 walks in 13 starts spanning 93 1/3 innings.

Yamamoto won The Sawamura Award (top starting pitcher) and Pacific League MVP Award in 2021 and 2022. He pitched just over 193 innings in each of those seasons, struck out over 200 batters, and allowed a combined 13 home runs.

Here are the ERAs for the 24-year-old for the last five seasons:

  • 2019: 1.95
  • 2020: 2.20
  • 2021: 1.39
  • 2022: 1.69
  • 2023: 1.74

Scouts describe Yamamoto’s potential as a notch above Mets’ rookie pitcher Kodai Senga given Yoshinobu’s elite control. Senga was chosen as an All-Star and has a 3.20 ERA in his first 17 starts in the big leagues.

Yamamoto gave up two runs in 7 1/3 innings during the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He was also second in the tournament with 12 strikeouts and held hitters to a .160 average in two appearances.

The Japanese ace features a mid-to-upper-90s fastball, a plus-plus splitter, and an elite curveball.

Of course, if Yamamoto is posted, he would join fellow Japanese star Shohei Ohtani as two of the best players available and the Mets would seemingly be involved in the bidding for both. Eppler played a key role in Ohtani signing with the Angels and Senga with the Mets, which might give the team from Flushing a leg up on getting Yamamoto to join Senga in the rotation.

If Yamamoto is indeed posted for major league teams this offseason, he’ll be subject to the NPB-MLB posting system. That system grants all 30 teams equal rights to negotiate with the player but subjects the signing team to what. The MLB club that eventually signs Yamamoto would need to pay the Buffaloes a fee that is equal to 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, plus 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any dollars committed thereafter. Keith Law noted last year that Yamamoto could get close to six years, $180 million.