Yankees Rumors: Yoshinobu Yamamoto Gets 'Significant Bid' From NYY amid Free Agency

Much as expected, the New York Yankees have made a "significant bid" for Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, according to the New York Post's Jon Heyman, but "at this point they haven't heard, one way or the other."

The majority of the reporting around Yamamoto's free agency on Wednesday suggested that the Yankees, Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers were the main teams left in the running:

Jon Morosi of MLB Network added that Yamamoto has reportedly received at least one offer exceeding $300 million.

The Yankees have been regularly linked to the Japanese starting pitcher, with manager Aaron Boone telling reporters it was clear that Yamamto "wants to be great" after meeting with him this offseason.

"He's been looking forward to this," he continued. "He's a guy that you can certainly see is very invested in his craft. There's some similarities between him and Gerrit [Cole] in how dedicated and disciplined and all-in they are on pitching, baseball, their body and how to be successful. Different personalities, different people, but that obsession with their craft came across."

Yamamoto would slot in very nicely as New York's No. 2 starter behind Gerrit Cole, solidifying a rotation with upside but a lot of question marks with Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortes and Clarke Schmidt rounding out the current rotation.

The 25-year-old was fantastic in 2023, finishing 17-6 in total with a 1.16 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 176 strikeouts in 171 innings. He was named both the Pacific League MVP and Sawamura Award winner (Japan's equivalent to the Cy Young) for the third straight season.

That has made him the most prized starting pitcher on the market, though there will obviously be question marks as to whether his form will translate to the MLB level. But a number of teams clearly are willing to make that gamble, including the Yankees.