Philly Front Office

The best pitcher in Japan over the last few seasons is coming to MLB THIS YEAR. This is a very VERY big deal. Phillies fans, you’re excited because you heard we were ready to throw $300m+ at Yamamoto last year, this guy’s better, and we still have that money, right? Unfortunately, no. We aren’t out of it, but this one is weird.

Because of MLB rules, international players not subject to the draft can sign either as an international free agent or as an amateur free agent depending whether they are over/under age 25. Amateur free agents are subject to a pool of international bonus money as the carrot to sign a 6 year MLB entry contract, international free agents don’t have that restriction. Wait what? Let’s use a simple analogy. Shohei Ohtani signed with the Angels at age 23 for a $2.3m bonus and made less than that total for his first 3 years of salary. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was 25 when he signed a 12 year $325m contract with the Dodgers. THAT’S THE DIFFERENCE HERE!!!

Awesome you say? Because you’d rather pay an ace pennies than a fortune right? Probably not. This means that the Phillies can’t just take that Yamamoto money and throw it at Sasaki. All things being equal, he’s probably not coming to the Phillies right? They’ll obviously try incredibly hard to get him, but I’ll bet he’s already trying on his Dodgers cap. I just can’t imagine not going to play with your friends who just won a world series in Los Angeles. I hope I’m wrong (as long as it’s not wrong in NYC).

As an aside, I don’t understand why this is happening. His Japanese team gets a posting fee based on the amount of money he receives. It is in their best interest and the player’s to wait two more years. Apparently he wants to come over now and that’s all there is to it. Definitely not the usual decision.

Here’s hoping he’s in red pinstripes instead of Dodger blue.