Report: Yamamoto to Meet With Teams Next Week

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will begin to meet with Major League Baseball teams next week over the phone and on Zoom, according to Andy Martino of SNY.

Yamamoto was posted on Nov. 20 and now, according to Martino, will begin meeting with teams at the start of next week. Yamamoto is highly coveted by the Mets, along with other teams such as the Yankees, Giants, and Red Sox.

Yamamoto recently discussed his free-agent process with the Japanese media and stated that he doesn’t mind playing alongside another Nippon Professional Baseball product. This report, however, was originally misconstrued to state Yamamoto preferred to play with another NPB player.

While the Mets will highly pursue Yamamoto, he may have his eyes set across town. Martino also recently reported that his league sources informed him he is “intrigued by the prestige and iconography of the Yankees.”

Yamamoto will have until Jan. 4 to sign with a major league team, or 45 days from when he was posted, per posting rules. Martino, however, reported that Yamamoto will most likely sign well before his deadline.