Not our Star Blazer: Yamamoto signs with the Dodgers for $325 million, 12 years

[chrisfont9]

This is such an interesting point. As the most casual of football fans, i was actually going to ask the board whether this is just a Sox phenomenon, or whether it's more a Boston thing. And the way I was hoping to get at that was to ask whether Pats fans have turned on that organization as well. Your post makes clear they have.

It's crazy. Yamamoto hasn't made any decisions. We have no idea what he will or won't do. And a segment SOSH is already thrown into despair about the outcome. For Christ's sake, every one of his suitors except for one isn't going to get him. Only in Boston does that become an existential crisis. The unknown preferences of some 25 year old kid who's never thrown a pitch in major league baseball is somehow dredging up decades of angst and despair. You'd think four championships in twenty years would heal these wounds. But this is Boston.

Let's not conflate the noisiest contingents of Sox or Pats fans who get driven by talk radio nonsense to demanding that their team win every year, as though other teams don't exist or that it might be hard to actually pull off, with the entire fanbase. I suspect a pretty large contingent of fans in both camps -- and you can add the Celtics and Bruins too -- know that it's not easy to win titles. I think a lot of the complaining here isn't so much about the Sox not hoisting a trophy since 2018 as it is just about them not being all that competitive, at least not consistently. That is something we have a right to demand, and we are probably more inflamed by the Mookie trade than the latest CHB drivel.

 

[SouthernBoSox]

The more this comes to actually resemble an auction, the better our chances are IMO.

I completely agree with this. The longer this takes the better I like our chances.

 

[BigSoxFan]

Let's not conflate the noisiest contingents of Sox or Pats fans who get driven by talk radio nonsense to demanding that their team win every year, as though other teams don't exist or that it might be hard to actually pull off, with the entire fanbase. I suspect a pretty large contingent of fans in both camps -- and you can add the Celtics and Bruins too -- know that it's not easy to win titles. I think a lot of the complaining here isn't so much about the Sox not hoisting a trophy since 2018 as it is just about them not being all that competitive, at least not consistently. That is something we have a right to demand, and we are probably more inflamed by the Mookie trade than the latest CHB drivel.

Exactly. And in the Patriots’ case, the product is incredibly boring. The worst thing you can be in sports is bad AND boring. The Sox have had some of that recently although hopefully the kids will change some of that.

Signing Yamamoto would be the most exciting thing this team has done in the offseason since, what, the Sale trade in 2016?

 

[chrisfont9]

Also I would be fine with them pivoting to Montgomery and Imanaga, the former would provide the Sox some real risk-lowering so that the latter's wide range of expected performance could be handled OK.

 

[moondog80]

My assumption is that the Sox have said to their other choices "we want to see how this goes, but if you are ready to sign elsewhere in the meantime, check in with us first". And those agents would be foolish not to do that. So as frustrating as this is, there's no real pressure on Breslow. But if/when that does happen, that's his first big decision.

I will say that it might be easier to convince him to sign if they already had an Imanaga/Stroman in house to show their commitment to winning. But maybe those guys don't want to sign yet? Because 56 mil under the tax, Yamamoto can't be the only move of consequence, right?

 

[Sin Duda]

He's gonna sign somewhere else! He's gonna pick another team! Our city sucks! Our nightlife sucks! Our weather sucks! Our team sucks! Our brand sucks! We haven't been to the ALCS in three seasons! We suck! We're doomed!

Thanks I... needed that.
View: https://youtu.be/SB8ucoNek2g?si=rIQh0x2PJzZBqksr

 

[P'tucket rhymes with...]

I completely agree with this. The longer this takes the better I like our chances.

We don't really know this. "Yamamoto" might be Japanese for "Teixiera."

 

[P'tucket rhymes with...]

I don’t see how that would work, the team doesn’t have any leverage. Would they make an offer that’s only good for a certain time? I just don’t see what the incentive would be for the player to sign now unless they think it’s way more than they will get if they wait…and if so, why is the team making that offer?

I know we want things to happen but spring training doesn’t start for quite a while. Players aren’t going to feel any urgency for like several more weeks.

I agree it's not likely to work, but I'm old enough to recall how the shortstop market blew up last off-season. If they can pick one off with a tough-to-refuse offer, great. If not, the targets likely to be foolish buys at where ever YY sets the market.

 

[Quatchie]

What would be the argument from purely a baseball standpoint for Yamamoto to sign with the Boston Red Sox over the MFY, Mets or Dodgers? The Red Sox brand has lost so much appeal that I think they will have a hard time selling what they've done or plan on doing.

 

[BringBackMo]

Let's not conflate the noisiest contingents of Sox or Pats fans who get driven by talk radio nonsense to demanding that their team win every year, as though other teams don't exist or that it might be hard to actually pull off, with the entire fanbase. I suspect a pretty large contingent of fans in both camps -- and you can add the Celtics and Bruins too -- know that it's not easy to win titles. I think a lot of the complaining here isn't so much about the Sox not hoisting a trophy since 2018 as it is just about them not being all that competitive, at least not consistently. That is something we have a right to demand, and we are probably more inflamed by the Mookie trade than the latest CHB drivel.

This is a well reasoned post. But I really think you’re overlooking something crucial. The Red Sox have been doing a hybrid rebuild the past two seasons. Of course they haven’t been competitive during that process. That is literally the point of a rebuild.

In 2019 they ran it back with the best team of this century and the highest payroll in the league. They underperformed, came in third, and the GM was fired. 2020 was the Covid year and they sucked.

They won 92 games in 2021 and went to the ALCS. The next year they fielded a good team with a high payroll (3rd in baseball, if I recall), that most of us felt good about. But that team was undone by injuries. That happens. After that they spent two years rebuilding, and have really improved the upper minors while andding five or so good young players to the major league roster during that span.

Now we’re in a place where they’ve announced they’re going for it and IF they can land two good starters they look like they can compete for a playoff spot In what may be the best division in baseball history. Meanwhile, they have three players at AA who have star potential and could be up within a year and a half, plus a handful of arms that could turn into something, plus a lot of talent lower down in the system.

Things are looking pretty good coming out of a rebuild in a beast of a division. But even your reasonable post boils all of this down to not being competitive since 2018.

 

[BringBackMo]

Thanks I... needed that.
View: https://youtu.be/SB8ucoNek2g?si=rIQh0x2PJzZBqksr

Is that literally him? I’m still not convinced!

 

[snowmanny]

What would be the argument from purely a baseball standpoint for Yamamoto to sign with the Boston Red Sox over the MFY, Mets or Dodgers? The Red Sox brand has lost so much appeal that I think they will have a hard time selling what they've done or plan on doing.

Tell me why the Mets brand is better than the Red Sox brand.

 

[Mike473]

Let's not conflate the noisiest contingents of Sox or Pats fans who get driven by talk radio nonsense to demanding that their team win every year, as though other teams don't exist or that it might be hard to actually pull off, with the entire fanbase. I suspect a pretty large contingent of fans in both camps -- and you can add the Celtics and Bruins too -- know that it's not easy to win titles. I think a lot of the complaining here isn't so much about the Sox not hoisting a trophy since 2018 as it is just about them not being all that competitive, at least not consistently. That is something we have a right to demand, and we are probably more inflamed by the Mookie trade than the latest CHB drivel.

It's not that complicated. The Patriots pushed the greatest player in NFL history out the door, he went on and won a Super Bowl with another franchise, and the Patriots devolved into one of the worst teams in the NFL.

The Red Sox let one of the greatest players in team history, in his prime, walk and he went on to win a championship with another franchise and is part of a machine in LA. The Sox went on to finish last 3 out of 4 years and without some major changes, if won't be pretty next year either.

Both franchises made some controversial moves and they back fired. I think Kraft still has some good will to work with. Henry is seen as cheap and not very interested in the franchise since the Betts trade.

 

[simplicio]

In 2021, the Rangers lost 102 games in their 5th consecutive losing season. How much appeal did their brand have for Seager and Semien to sign there that winter?

 

[RedOctober3829]

Confirmed by Alex Speier that YY did not visit Boston while he was on the East Coast. He visited the Yankees, Mets, Giants, and Dodgers either in those cities or at the owner’s house in the Mets case. I’m pretty much given up hope that he’s coming to Boston.
View: https://twitter.com/chriscotillo/status/1737255938086572198?s=46&t=IVL2VrlFgLlpc3mjGGto8Q

 

[YTF]

Might be good for all our mental health to just push the pause button on this thread for about a week.

 

[BringBackMo]

Confirmed by Alex Speier that YY did not visit Boston while he was on the East Coast. He visited the Yankees, Mets, Giants, and Dodgers either in those cities or at the owner’s house in the Mets case. I’m pretty much given up hope that he’s coming to Boston.
View: https://twitter.com/chriscotillo/status/1737255938086572198?s=46&t=IVL2VrlFgLlpc3mjGGto8Q

Agree that it’s probably not looking good for us. It’s said that he likes the spotlight and the big stage and LA and NY can both provide that. May be time for the Sox to change directions once this gets finalized.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

Confirmed by Alex Speier that YY did not visit Boston while he was on the East Coast. He visited the Yankees, Mets, Giants, and Dodgers either in those cities or at the owner’s house in the Mets case. I’m pretty much given up hope that he’s coming to Boston.
View: https://twitter.com/chriscotillo/status/1737255938086572198?s=46&t=IVL2VrlFgLlpc3mjGGto8Q

Ooof. My optimism is broken

 

[tims4wins]

This is a well reasoned post. But I really think you’re overlooking something crucial. The Red Sox have been doing a hybrid rebuild the past two seasons. Of course they haven’t been competitive during that process. That is literally the point of a rebuild.

In 2019 they ran it back with the best team of this century and the highest payroll in the league. They underperformed, came in third, and the GM was fired. 2020 was the Covid year and they sucked.

They won 92 games in 2021 and went to the ALCS. The next year they fielded a good team with a high payroll (3rd in baseball, if I recall), that most of us felt good about. But that team was undone by injuries. That happens. After that they spent two years rebuilding, and have really improved the upper minors while andding five or so good young players to the major league roster during that span.

Now we’re in a place where they’ve announced they’re going for it and IF they can land two good starters they look like they can compete for a playoff spot In what may be the best division in baseball history. Meanwhile, they have three players at AA who have star potential and could be up within a year and a half, plus a handful of arms that could turn into something, plus a lot of talent lower down in the system.

Things are looking pretty good coming out of a rebuild in a beast of a division. But even your reasonable post boils all of this down to not being competitive since 2018.

You and others keep saying this, but if "of course they weren't competitive", then they wouldn't have fired Bloom.

Also, we are almost all frustrated that they didn't go all-in on the rebuild, and instead screwed up back to back deadlines.

 

[BringBackMo]

Ooof. My optimism is broken

Plenty of other ways for us to get better. This would have been a fun one. But there’s lot of other options.

 

[Marciano490]

Confirmed by Alex Speier that YY did not visit Boston while he was on the East Coast. He visited the Yankees, Mets, Giants, and Dodgers either in those cities or at the owner’s house in the Mets case. I’m pretty much given up hope that he’s coming to Boston.
View: https://twitter.com/chriscotillo/status/1737255938086572198?s=46&t=IVL2VrlFgLlpc3mjGGto8Q

Possible the weather affected his travel plans? It’s almost rude not to take a 45 minute PJ flight to go have some oysters and Guinness.

 

[tims4wins]

Replace "Ray" with Yamamoto and "home" with to Boston and this is how I feel about everyone who thought the Sox had a chance

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaEQjF7RnNs

 

[pinkhatfan]

View attachment 75331

Just for fun, we should have another poll: how many posts will this thread have before YY makes his decision?

 

[natpastime162]

Agreed. The price of everyone is going to go up after the diva decides who gets to pay him; try to minimize the damage by making aggressive AAV offers with shorter years that will make Snell, Montgomery, etc. think twice about waiting.

With a Boras client? That should go great.

 

[BringBackMo]

You and others keep saying this, but if "of course they weren't competitive", then they wouldn't have fired Bloom.

Also, we are almost all frustrated that they didn't go all-in on the rebuild, and instead screwed up back to back deadlines.

I disagree on Bloom completely. He would have happily done the full Monty, I’m convinced. Ownership wouldn’t stand for it. When that proved toxic to the fan base, he was an easy guy to dump. Now they’ve got religion on going all in on competing and without the unhelpful stench of the failure the last guy gets to own.

I agree with your second point unconditionally.

 

[jmanny24]

Confirmed by Alex Speier that YY did not visit Boston while he was on the East Coast. He visited the Yankees, Mets, Giants, and Dodgers either in those cities or at the owner’s house in the Mets case. I’m pretty much given up hope that he’s coming to Boston.
View: https://twitter.com/chriscotillo/status/1737255938086572198?s=46&t=IVL2VrlFgLlpc3mjGGto8Q

This certainly doesn't sound good but there is so much out there that nobody knows what's real and what isn't. If YY enjoys the spotlight as has been reported, he must be enjoying the heck out of this circus is going on while he makes a life-changing decision.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Replace "Ray" with Yamamoto and "home" with to Boston and this is how I feel about everyone who thought the Sox had a chance

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaEQjF7RnNs

Laces out, Yosh!

 

[StuckOnYouk]

My rooting interest in how this goes now:
SF
NYM
LAD

 

[FlexFlexerson]

Ooof, it'll be pretty deflating if we couldn't even get a meeting with YY. I've been on the train of the Sox acquitting themselves well if they just make a good effort and offer a competitive contract, but I don't think it speaks too well of how the Sox are viewed if we couldn't even get on his dance card.

As others have said, there are certainly other ways to improve the team. We'll have to see what else happens, I suppose.

 

[joe dokes]

Henry is seen as cheap and not very interested in the franchise since the Betts trade.

The passive voice is doing a lot of work here.
"Cheap and not very interested." I think the 1st is demonstrably false, and the second is circular post hoc psychology suported mostly by the first proposition. Or vice versa.

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Tell me why the Mets brand is better than the Red Sox brand.

They are the defending 2022 Offseason Champs! Don't you remember when they narrowly defeated the Padres in the Big Splash Statement Signing Series?

 

[Salem's Lot]

It's not that complicated. The Patriots pushed the greatest player in NFL history out the door, he went on and won a Super Bowl with another franchise, and the Patriots devolved into one of the worst teams in the NFL.


The Red Sox let one of the greatest players in team history, in his prime, walk and he went on to win a championship with another franchise and is part of a machine in LA. The Sox went on to finish last 3 out of 4 years and without some major changes, if won't be pretty next year either.

Both franchises made some controversial moves and they back fired. I think Kraft still has some good will to work with. Henry is seen as cheap and not very interested in the franchise since the Betts trade.

Maybe to a percentage of Red Sox fans that listen to way too much talk radio. I highly doubt that MLB free agents consider the opinion of talking heads when they choose which teams to visit.

 

[BigSoxFan]

Offer 10/350 and make him turn it down.

 

[MartyBC]

NP-Christmas Dreams. Hey, I saw Transiberian Orchestra the other night.

 

[Mike473]

The passive voice is doing a lot of work here.
"Cheap and not very interested." I think the 1st is demonstrably false, and the second is circular post hoc psychology suported mostly by the first proposition. Or vice versa.

That is the perception. I don't personally agree with it. But, outside the die hard fans, that is it. I believe both franchises simply made mistakes that really hurt them. When you own a franchise or any business really for 20 plus years, mistakes will happen. My daughter told me the other day the Red Sox will sign no star players because Henry is too busy with other things and the Red Sox are just a cash cow for him. She and her friends are hoping he will sell the team. I don't know many outside this board that feel differently. But, I am pretty sure the Red Sox will make a big move and sentiment will change in an instant.

 

[Sille Skrub]

Ooof, it'll be pretty deflating if we couldn't even get a meeting with YY. I've been on the train of the Sox acquitting themselves well if they just make a good effort and offer a competitive contract, but I don't think it speaks too well of how the Sox are viewed if we couldn't even get on his dance card.

This is really the absolute worst part and a gut punch for me. We all knew it was a long shot at best for the Sox to sign him.

However, if we couldn’t even get a visit while waving a $300mil check kind of speaks volumes about the perception of the franchise.

 

[BornToRun]

This is really the absolute worst part and a gut punch for me. We all knew it was a long shot at best for the Sox to sign him.

However, if we couldn’t even get a visit while waving a $300mil check kind of speaks volumes about the perception of the franchise.

Perhaps him spurning the Sox will awaken a sleeping giant and fill it with a terrible resolve.

 

[E5 Yaz]

Perhaps him spurring the Sox will awaken a sleeping giant and fill it with a terrible resolve.

It's the terrible part I'm worried about

 

[Rovin Romine]

This is really the absolute worst part and a gut punch for me. We all knew it was a long shot at best for the Sox to sign him.

However, if we couldn’t even get a visit while waving a $300mil check kind of speaks volumes about the perception of the franchise.

Or the city. Maybe he just wants NY or LA.

 

[InsideTheParker]

Offer 10/350 and make him turn it down.

Give up! I know I have, now that I've heard he didn't find it worth his while to travel to Boston. It feels very good to give up.
If he goes to the NYY, I will be very sad, but whatchagonnado?

 

[moondog80]

If YY isn't coming, I trust Breslow to walk the line between actively trying to help the team in the short term and making a move that damages them in the long term, in the name of "making a splash". Problem is, it can be hard to do just the former.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

This is really the absolute worst part and a gut punch for me. We all knew it was a long shot at best for the Sox to sign him.

However, if we couldn’t even get a visit while waving a $300mil check kind of speaks volumes about the perception of the franchise.

Or he doesn’t want to live in Boston over the other cities in question.

 

[BaseballJones]

There's no good reason why YY would simply dismiss Boston out of hand, if he's going to be considering the Mets. The Mets haven't won jack. Their last relevant year was 2015 when they won 90 games and somehow made it to the World Series (I guess 2022 they were relevant with 101 wins but gagged in the playoffs). They've finished 4th in their division 4 times since 2015. In that same span of time, Boston finished first 3 times, went to two ALCS, and won one World Series. Moreover, the Mets are the #2 team in their own city, while Boston rules all of New England.

If Boston is competitive in terms of $$, I cannot imagine why YY would just rule them out without giving them serious consideration.

 

[Bigpupp]

Maybe they just can't find the throttle?

 

[CalSoxGal]

I'm feeling pretty pessimistic myself lately, but to play devil's advocate, even if we accept the truth of the report that he didn't visit Boston on his east coast trip, 1) do we know if he's no longer on the east coast? 2) do we know that he has no future plans to visit Boston?

 

[Tokyo Sox]

Perhaps him spurring the Sox will awaken a sleeping giant and fill it with a terrible resolve.

(no relation)

 

[SouthernBoSox]

Lmao he didn’t even consider Boston. Wow.

He’s gonna be a Yankee and it’s gonna suck.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

Why do we think an organizations recent history is the most important thing to a player? I don’t think that’s what sold a Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, or Curt Schilling….money talks, obviously, but going forward is a lot more important than looking back. I’d imagine that some players want a well articulated vision of where a team is headed more than a video of where they’ve been. Of course, every player is different and has their own motivations.

 

[KillerBs]

If he goes to the Yankees for 10 years, I expect to enjoy watching lefties Teel, Casas, Mayer, Devers, Anthony and Yoshida etc. hit innumerable HRs off him just and well over Judge's head into that short porch in right.

I have been wrapped up in this as much as the rest of you, but we have been down this road before breathless about another "generational talent" Japanese pitcher coming over and we will be again before long. I expect YY to be good, but he is a 5'10 righty who depends heavily on a splitter, not a typical recipe for success. The durability of 5'10 starting pitchers is not encouraging. We will see where the fastball sits when he gets here with a normal starter load. IOW, it is not the end of the world if he goes to the Yankees. I would almost rather have him there than with the LAD, who nauseate me at least as much as the Yanks these days. If he has 75% the career Darvish has had, whoever he signs with should be grateful. For all we know, we may have dodged a bullet.

Now go overpay for a SP we can expect to pitch 180 IPs better than league average and sign Sean Manaea and/or Hader while you at it.

 

[SoxinSeattle]

There's no good reason why YY would simply dismiss Boston out of hand, if he's going to be considering the Mets. The Mets haven't won jack. Their last relevant year was 2015 when they won 90 games and somehow made it to the World Series (I guess 2022 they were relevant with 101 wins but gagged in the playoffs). They've finished 4th in their division 4 times since 2015. In that same span of time, Boston finished first 3 times, went to two ALCS, and won one World Series. Moreover, the Mets are the #2 team in their own city, while Boston rules all of New England.

If Boston is competitive in terms of $$, I cannot imagine why YY would just rule them out without giving them serious consideration.

How many 25 year old international superstars are going to pick Boston when LA and NY are options? I think it's that simple.