MLB: Olympic baseball gold medallist Yoshinobu Yamamoto in high demand

The Oryx Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) made their ace, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, available to Major League Baseball (MLB) through the posting system. The signing deadline will expire at 5 pm (US Eastern Time) on 4 January 2024.

According to Kyodo News, Yamamoto's agent Joel Wolfe said between 11 and 14 teams have expressed interest in the 25-year-old right-hander.

Meanwhile, The Athletic reported that Yamamoto is the second-best free agent available to MLB clubs this winter. The magazine believes he is worth a seven-year and US$ 211 million contract. The New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Boston Red Sox are among the clubs that are interested.

If an MLB team reaches an agreement with Yamamoto, the Buffaloes will receive a posting fee based on the value of the contract. If the pitcher goes unsigned, the Buffaloes will retain his contract.

Born in 1998, Yamamoto has been part of the WBSC Premier12 2019, Tokyo 2020 Olympics and World Baseball Classic 2023 winning teams.

His NPB career has been legendary. He has dominated the Pacific League in the last three seasons, besting the league in wins, strikeouts and Earned Run Average (ERA) for three consecutive seasons. He became the second pitcher in NPB's history to win three consecutive Eiji Sawamura Awards for the best pitcher after Hall of Famer Masaichi Kaneda (1933-2019).