Updated Post – Nov. 17 at 2:25 PM

Buster Olney of ESPN reports that Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be officially posted on Monday, Nov. 20, and that teams can start negotiating with him the following day. Interested teams will then have a 45-day window to convince the star pitcher that their offer is the best.

Updated Post – Nov. 10 at 10:11 am ET

Andy Martino of SNY reports that the New York Mets will be “all over” Japanese star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The 25-year-old is expected to be posted soon. On Friday morning, it was announced that Yamamoto won his third straight Golden Glove for pitchers.

Multiple reports have also indicated that the Yankees, Red Sox, and Cubs are among the many teams that will be looking to sign arguably the top pitcher on the free agent market.

Updated Post – Nov. 9 at 8:05 am ET

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports that star Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto will likely be posted soon, specifying within the next week. Once the 25-year-old is posted, teams will have up to 45 days to negotiate with Yamamoto.

Here’s a quick refresher on the posting fee the team that signs Yamamoto will have to pay on top of the contract:

  • 20% of the first $25 million
  • 17.5% of the next $25 million
  • 15% of any amount above $50 million

Updated Post – Nov. 5 at 10:20 pm ET

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, “Rival executives believe he’ll [Yamamoto] wind up signing with the Mets.”

Yamamoto is expected to receive a contract greater than $200 million and is the top pitcher on the market outside Blake Snell.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports

Updated Post – Nov. 5 at 9:30 pm ET

On Sunday morning, the Orix Buffaloes announced that they’d let their elite starting pitcher make the move to the major leagues via the posting system. The move comes after the team’s Game 7 loss.

As expected, Yamamoto will instantly become one of the most coveted starting pitchers on the market.

Original Post  – Nov. 4 at 11:24 am ET

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the most prized free agent pitcher in the 2023 free agent class, just threw a gem. In Game 6 of a playoff elimination game, he pitched nine innings, allowing nine hits and one run, striking out 14 batters while walking none – in 138 pitches for the Orix Buffaloes. In what will be his last start before being posted, pitching a complete game and dominating his opponent, the Hansin Tigers, can only do more to bolster his reputation and up his price tag.

The 25-year-old Yamamoto had his splitter working all game and routinely beat batters with well-located fastballs on both sides of the plate. The combination of velocity and control leads many to believe his game will translate to the MLB level without much difficulty – and his ability to go deep into games and not allow home runs offers an even more promising outlook. If it weren’t for Shohei Ohtani, Yamamoto would no doubt be the number one free agent in the class.

Since the 2023 New York Mets struggled to have their starters go deep into games, Yamamoto would be a perfect fit. With a possible starting rotation of Kodai Senga, Yamamoto, Jose Quintana, and some combination of David Peterson, Tylor Megill, Jose Butto, Joey Lucchesi and possibly Mike Vasil who is in Triple-A, the Mets would have a vastly stronger rotation. 

With two pitchers in Yamamoto and Quintana who can be efficient with their pitches, it would leave the bullpen to handle the later innings and not be concerned about coming into games in the fifth inning. The Mets last season only had one complete outing – by David Peterson. Only four starters pitched 100 innings or more – and that includes Max Scherzer before he was traded to Texas.