All signs are pointing to Yoshinobu Yamamoto heading to the United States to play for a Major League Baseball club in 2024. The 25-year-old right-handed ace from the Orix Buffaloes of the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization will become a free agent this offseason. Yamamoto is having a spectacular season in Japan, and all signs point to him easily making the transition to MLB.

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Baseball fans across the country got a glimpse of Yamamoto on the international stage when he pitched for Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. While he may have been overshadowed by teammates Shohei Ohtani and flame-thrower Roki Sasaki, Yamamoto had a very strong showing throughout the tournament. In 7 1/3 innings, he struck out 12 batters and pitched to a 2.45 ERA and 0.82 WHIP. His performance helped propel Japan to their 5th WBC championship, the most by any country in the WBC’s history.

After a successful WBC, Yamamoto continued to shine even brighter during his regular season for the Buffaloes. He has dominated the NPB, posting a 1.26 ERA, .853 WHIP with 152 K’s and only 24 BB. He has a whopping 6.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio. For reference, that SO/W ratio would be third-best in MLB, trailing Mariners ace George Kirby (8.778) and the Rays Zach Eflin (7.478) this year.

The height of Yamamoto’s success this season came on September 9 after he no-hit the Chibe Lotte Marines. It was his second career no-hitter, which extended his scoreless streak to 42 innings. Yamamoto brought the streak to 45 innings until giving up two earned runs in his most recent outing. His pitch repertoire includes a fastball that sits 95-96 mph, a sharp slider, and an outrageous forkball, similar to Senga’s ghost forkball. He has the stuff to become a legitimate ace in MLB.

Signing Yamamoto won’t be easy. There will be a large group of teams showing interest in Yamomoto’s services, possibly leading to a bidding war this winter. Teams that have already been linked to Yamamoto include the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, and the Rangers. The Padres, Royals, Phillies, Giants, Yankees, and Mets all had scouts in person at Yamamoto’s no-hitter on September 9.

Yamamoto is expected to be represented by agent Joel Wolfe of Wasserman, who represents Kodai Senga and Edwin Díaz. Wolfe helped Senga ink a five-year, $75 million deal with the Mets last winter. Yamamoto will command a bigger deal than Senga due to his age advantage at the time of signing, and it is known the Mets will be in on starting pitching this offseason after dealing both Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander at the trade deadline.

His free agency will be one to keep a close eye on. Wherever he signs, he’ll make a huge impact on a team’s starting rotation. Expect to see a multi-year deal that could exceed $20 million AAV. At least a handful of teams will be very interested in signing him, and fully expect the Mets to be in this race.