A Festivus poll: Where does Yamamoto end up?

[Sille Skrub]

More Yamamoto fun! Let's try and keep the main discussion in the other thread. I'd just like to get a gauge on how we are feeling right now.

What is your prediction? Poll will be open for 2 days and you can't change your vote once cast.

 

[nolasoxfan]

I want to believe.

 

[Otis Foster]

Mets and Skanks get into the typical NY contest too see whos bigger, and Cohen blows away all constraints to win bragging rights.

Unfortunately.

 

[Yaz4Ever]

Might be overly optimistic, but I think he signs with us --- possibly today

 

[SemperFidelisSox]

I think he’s using the Mets to get the best offer from the Yankees.

 

[brandonchristensen]

I just can’t see him signing with the Sox - I chose Yankees. But Dodgers wouldn’t surprise me.

 

[SouthernBoSox]

I think he’s using the Mets to get the best offer from the Yankees.

This is what my gut is telling me as well. I think it's the Yankees and Cohen is making sure that it hurts.

 

[Jeff Frye's Face Mask]

I just cannot see him signing with us. I think he ends up in the Bronx.

 

[ookami7m]

I think it is Sox -> Giants -> Mets - > Dodgers -> MFY in order of probability right now - at least that's what I want to believe

 

[Archer1979]

I'm hoping its the Sox. I'm guessing its the Mets. The luxury tax penalties for the NYY and LAD will be too harsh for those two to stay in the running if the Sox and Mets overwhelm.

 

[AlNipper49]

Steve Cohen's goal is to steal (some/most of) the most valuable market share in baseball from the Yankees. Winning games works, but being in the headlines doesn't hurt either. This is less about baseball than someone executing a business plan. I'd put the Mets as 90% chance of coming away with YY if I was betting on it. Money is no object when you are dealing with such a disproportionately sized market.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

I wonder if the Dodgers sign him, too, and start heading towards a $500 million payroll, if there is any thought in MLB to institute a hard salary cap?

 

[StuckOnYouk]

If there is no Fenway visit he’s not coming here.

Hes already flown all the way out, so if we don’t hear today about a meeting in Boston then we can all just focus on hoping he doesn’t go to the Yanks.

It surprises me the Yankees keep leaking they’re confident - wonder what exactly they are hearing from the YY camp.

 

[Big Papi's Mango Salsa]

I think the most likely are 1) Dodgers; 2) Mets; 3) Yankees; 4) Sox.

I chose the Yankees, however, because I decided to go with the worst possible scenario so that if he ends up with LAD or NYM it feels like more of a moral victory.

 

[Gash Prex]

I see the Mets or Yankees. In the end I don’t see Henry et al comfort in going beyond the reported 300 million. Maybe I’m wrong.

 

[Devizier]

I think it's Red Sox / Yankees / Mets with equal probability since the Glasnow trade, but I went Mets because Cohen is gonna Cohen.

 

[Salem's Lot]

If there is no Fenway visit he’s not coming here.

Hes already flown all the way out, so if we don’t hear today about a meeting in Boston then we can all just focus on hoping he doesn’t go to the Yanks.

It surprises me the Yankees keep leaking they’re confident - wonder what exactly they are hearing from the YY camp.

This is where I’m at. If we don’t here about him being at Fenway today, I don’t like our chances. I still don’t rule out the Dodgers.

 

[RS2004foreever]

My guess is the Giants - who have been turned down by other FA - and who I am guessing will not be outbid here. If not there I think insanity wins (IOW the Mets).

 

[103mph Screwball]

I've got a bad feeling its going to be the MFY

 

[Yelling At Clouds]

The Mets seem the most likely to make an offer that just blows everyone else’s out of the water without deferrals or opt-outs or whatever else, so I vote them. Nothing would surprise me, though, really, unless he signs with the Angels.

 

[Apisith]

We never heard about any first meeting too until the agent leaked our +$300m offer. We probably won’t hear about any Fenway visit as well. And it’s very interesting that both the Mets and Yankees visits were hastily arranged. Pepen reported that he ‘accepted’ an invitation to visit Fenway, then two days later he arranges visits with the Mets and the Yankees. Sure feels like coming East was primarily to visit Fenway.

Whether we’re being used to drive up the Giants’ offer is up for debate. I think the Dodgers are out.

 

[buttons]

Waiting for the Sox to announce a press conference!!!

 

[jwbasham84]

I honestly think it will be the Yankees, but I voted Sox because I'm an optimist... I can't see the Dodgers taking on another giant contract and I hope the Mets are just too erratic for YY's taste...

 

[bosockboy]

I've got a bad feeling its going to be the MFY

Feels like 2008 Teixeira.

 

[Sam Ray Not]

Q: Are you an optimist or a pessimist?

As of 12/18 10:07AM EST:

A. Optimist 35%
B. Pessimist 27.9%
C. Somewhere in between 37.1%

 

[allmanbro]

I put sox, but honestly, that current vote split is not too far off what I think are the realistic probabilities.

 

[sezwho]

Feels like 2008 Teixeira.

It so does

 

[RedOctober3829]

My prediction is that he signs a 12 year $420 million deal with the Mets. Steve Cohen blows everyone else out of the water with his offer.

 

[cantor44]

I think he heads to NYY. Storied franchise, they'll kick in the dough, despite disappointing season last year with the addition of Soto, present a team that could win now.

EDIT: I also don't see why the Yankees would be leaking they are confident they're going to get him if they weren't confident. I suppose maybe they are NOT confident and by saying that they are, they're manipulating other teams to spend more to get him ...though I'm taking that on the level right now. As far as we know YY accepted invite to Fenway, and then initiated meetings with the NY teams since he's in the area - that doesn't make me too optimistic.

 

[E5 Yaz]

I think he’s using the Mets to get the best offer from the Yankees.

This is Yahtzee

 

[astrozombie]

I want the Sox to get him, but I voted Yankees. Winning team, bigger market, history, the money will be there. I am doubly bummed because through the Bloom years there was a strong undercurrent of "oh, well things will be better when we sign YY in '24" or "with a starting rotation of YY, FA2, Bello, Sale, Houck" or something similar. And now that we're here, it looks like it is not going to happen.

 

[lars10]

I think he heads to NYY. Storied franchise, they'll kick in the dough, despite disappointing season last year with the addition of Soto, present a team that could win now.

EDIT: I also don't see why the Yankees would be leaking they are confident they're going to get him if they weren't confident. I suppose maybe they are NOT confident and by saying that they are, they're manipulating other teams to spend more to get him ...though I'm taking that on the level right now. As far as we know YY accepted invite to Fenway, and then initiated meetings with the NY teams since he's in the area - that doesn't make me too optimistic.

What's nice is the strategy of buying high priced free agents and maxing out payroll has been such a winning strategy for the Yanks. s/

 

[SemperFidelisSox]

We never heard about any first meeting too until the agent leaked our +$300m offer. We probably won’t hear about any Fenway visit as well.

Marino Pepén said yesterday Yamamoto has accepted a meeting at Fenway.

 

[riveraulwick]

I think it will be the Mets on a huge overpay that they regret in time.

 

[OCD SS]

I think we know nothing, and this is all vibes based on people making shit up…

Voting for the Sox against my better judgement as I’m feeling warm about the holidays.

 

[CarolinaBeerGuy]

I like setting myself up for disappointment. Voted us.

 

[rajendra82]

I voted Yankees in advance of The Airing of Grievances.

 

[Daniel_Son]

• Mets are a mess. Cohen is a big spender but they don't have anything to show for it.
• Dodgers are going to be taking a huge hit to the CBT with Mookie, Freeman, and now Ohtani. They also just signed Glasnow. I don't think they're as in on this as everyone makes them out to be.
• Fuck the Yankees. Why would a free agent pitcher making his stateside debut want to be chained to that toilet bowl for the next 10+ years? Plus, maybe Yamamoto wants to grow a beard. Yeah, he definitely does.

Sox all the way. Let's go.

 

[BornToRun]

I voted Yankees in advance of The Airing of Grievances.

I look forward to hating him with every fiber of my being.

 

[Harry Hooper]

I went with the Giants,. They have the $$$ and the sheen of multiple WS Championships in YY's lifetime. He can also be sold on the rivalry with the Dodgers and the allure of going head-to-head vs. Ohtani.

Plus, SF is on the West Coast and huge population with Asian ancestry, cuisine options, and so forth.

 

[Nixon Now!!]

I agree with riveraulwick. Let the Mets (or the MFYs) overpay for the next Daisuke Matsuzaka.

 

[SuperManny]

I voted Red Sox, I think they are going to make an aggressive offer given how desperate they are for a frontline starting pitcher

 

[pinkhatfan]

I've been reading all the speculation, and I'd love for Yamamoto to come to Boston, but I don't think any of us really have any great insight into what will sway him in the end. Nevertheless, I've guessed the Mets, because Cohen seems most likely to significantly overpay.

 

[pk1627]

I’m amazed the Sox aren’t out yet with the money speculated above $300 million.

My guess is that the two NY teams will escalate it to astronomical prices. Have we ever seen them go head to head like this before? It sucks that one will prevail, but also wonderful that one won’t.

But I voted Sox because I like that team.

 

[FlexFlexerson]

If the Mets land him, we can at least all rest easy knowing we avoided a pitcher headed for certain career-ending injury early next season.

I voted NYY. All of the swirl around this smells of a campaign to get the braintrust in the Bronx to add as many zeroes to the end of his contract as possible, so to speak.

 

[Mike473]

What's nice is the strategy of buying high priced free agents and maxing out payroll has been such a winning strategy for the Yanks. s/

I am voting for Boston. They need this move.

No strategy is guaranteed. But, the Sox are in a tough position. They won 4 championships since 2004, but the Mookie Betts trade appears to have been a defining moment in team history that changed the way fans view this ownership. Many fans now view the ownership results as split between before and after that trade. Henry is now viewed by too many fans as cheap and disinterested. I don't think Henry is either cheap or disinterested. Henry and the front office can make some valid arguments to that effect, but as we saw last winter in Springfield, there isn't much appetite for excuses. Now, we are a year later, and they badly need to change the narrative and get fans looking forward, not backward. I agree that 4 WS Titles is incredibly impressive, but for better or worse, baseball is a business and they managed to alienate their customers in a way I didn't think the trade would at the time.

 

[AlNipper49]

I’m amazed the Sox aren’t out yet with the money speculated above $300 million.

My guess is that the two NY teams will escalate it to astronomical prices. Have we ever seen them go head to head like this before? It sucks that one will prevail, but also wonderful that one won’t.

But I voted Sox because I like that team.

The Red Sox under Henry have probably been the most willing to spend money relative to their market size than any other team in MLB and have been setting themselves up for payroll flexibility for four years now. So they can and would spend. The only question is if YY is the nut they want to crack with that flexibility. Do you want one really good nut that may not taste good in a few years (or be so good that you are describing this delicious nut to your grandchildren), or do you want a lot of decent nuts that may have one very flavorful one in the bunch and fills your tummy more.

 

[GPO Man]

Sox if and only if Breslow offers $400 million

 

[BornToRun]

Sox if and only if Breslow offers $400 million

Would 10/400 really be that ridiculous with the money swirling around the game today? Yes, he’s never thrown a pitch in the bigs but if you look at him and see “mid 20’s, ace caliber” is it all that much of a stretch to go that far? Which is to say that if the brass thinks he’s the real deal and that number does it, then I say do it.

 

[brienc]

I picked the Mets for reasons already mentioned here, but listening to a bunch of Yankees fans go insane and demand a salary cap if he signs with the Dodgers is too delicious of an outcome to resist rooting for.