NASHVILLE — The Mets have made known their desire to sign free-agent right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Maybe it’s the fact that Shohei Ohtani‘s decision has brought the Winter Meetings market to a standstill this week, or maybe it’s that general managers are just tired of being so secretive. Whatever the case may be, one day after Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced his club’s pursuit of Shohei Ohtani, Mets president of ops David Stearns spoke openly about his club’s efforts to sign Yamamoto.
Stearns confirmed that he traveled to Japan with owner Steve Cohen to meet with Yamamoto. He did not confirm that right-hander Kodai Senga came along as well, but he did say that Senga supports this courting of Yamamoto.
“We met with Yoshinobu and his group and his family and it was a great meeting,” Stearns said Wednesday at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. “Clearly, when you’re in the middle of a big free agent pursuit, every club is going to meet with him. So this isn’t likely shouldn’t be shocking news, but I understand that when stuff like this gets out, it’s newsworthy. So yes, we met with him and it was a good meeting.”
These were similar to the comments Roberts made about Ohtani, with the sentiment seeming to be that if the news is out there then they should just address it.
A former Nippon Professional Baseball star, Yamamoto was posted by the Orix Buffaloes last month and has until 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 4 to decide where to play. Until Wednesday, we knew little about the Mets’ dealings with the NPB’s three-time Sawamura Award winner. Stearns chose not to comment on the details of the meeting, but he felt that going to Japan demonstrated Cohen’s level of commitment to bringing him to New York.
Stearns presented the opportunity to Yamamoto and did what he felt was the best course of action.
“I try not to look at as selling, I try to look at as providing information about who we are as an organization, and what we want to do and what we want to become,” Stearns said. “This is a big decision for any free agent — where to sign. They deserve to have all the information they need to make the most informed decision and the right decision for them and their family.”
The Mets have not been given a timeframe from Yamamoto. They are prepared to wait this out until the deadline.
“We have to be,” Stearns said.
However, the club faces stiff competition for Yamamoto’s services. The Yankees are still in the mix and will reportedly meet with him at Yankee Stadium next week. Other teams are still in it as well.
Yamamoto has become the most coveted free agent starter of the offseason. So, now the Mets will wait. This has the potential to turn into a dangerous game with the team facing the possibility of losing out on another elite arm while waiting for a pitcher that does not appear to be a sure shot. Despite their willingness to wait, they may eventually have to pivot.
The Mets have contingency plans, but they are designing their offseason strategy around Yamamoto and their budget around him as well. This isn’t just a waiver wire pickup, this is a high-priced free agent that wants a long-term contract, and those require advance planning.
However, the fact that the market remains stagnant bodes well for the Mets in this case. The longer Ohtani takes to make his decision, the longer the other top free agents will remain free agents.
“Every market plays out a little bit differently,” Stearns said. “It’s sometimes tough to predict and sometimes only makes sense in retrospect when we look back in a particular year in March or April. But we’ll be prepared for however the market moves and wherever we can address our needs, we will.”
Now that the news is out there, the Mets are not shying away from it. It’s a risky pursuit, but the Mets believe that it will be worth the payoff.
