The Boston Red Sox are reportedly one of the teams still in the mix for Japanese free agent Yoshinobu Yamomoto. The 25-year-old pitcher is the top free agent remaining on the market after Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this month.
It’s also been reported that Fenway Park was not on the list of stops that Yamamoto has made on his free-agent tour. But how much does that matter?
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora addressed the Yamamoto rumors while joining WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the Audacy original podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” this week.
“I cannot tell you if he did visit or didn’t visit Fenway but I think he knows a lot about Fenway,” Cora said (22:45 in player above). “He has friends he’s probably been asking, and we’re not talking about our left fielder. We’re not talking about that.”
The Red Sox left fielder, of course, is Yamamoto’s fellow countryman and former teammate on the Orix Buffaloes, Masataka Yoshida, who signed in Boston last offseason. But there are other former major leaguers that Yamamoto has crossed paths with in the Japan Pacific League of the NPB.
“We got guys that played with him this year that had the experience of playing in New York, the experience of playing in Boston, the experience of playing in Houston,” Cora continued. “He played with people that are ex-MLB players and they have the insight of a lot of stuff. It’s important but it’s not that important.”
While visiting stadiums can be exciting and a point of recruitment for players, the novelty isn’t the same as it once was, Cora mentioned.
“The novelty is in the past. They really want to know what the organization is all about. That’s what they want to know,” he said. “At the end of the day, the conversations in that room with your group, with his group, the agency, and talking about how we envision this.”
Anyone can pay to get a tour of Fenway Park from the experts, Cora noted, and an official visit may impact how the Red Sox’ pursuit of Yamamoto is viewed. But at the end of the day, it’s about more than that.
“Why are we in this room? You talk about it and the possible structure of things, how we’re going to help you to become a big leaguer because yeah, he’s very talented but he’s not a big leaguer yet,” Cora continued. “There are a lot of adjustments, a lot of stuff that not only him and his situation but Seth Lugo, Justin Turner last year, just how we operate in Boston. How it works. The city. How the family room works. Family’s got to be comfortable. All that stuff comes into play because we’re talking about life-changing decisions.”
The Yamamoto sweepstakes may come to a close soon as it’s been reported that he will make a decision by Christmas Day.
