LOS ANGELES — The Mets got their first up close and personal view of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, baseball’s most coveted free agent pitcher ever, since the slight right-hander dined at Mets owner Steve Cohen’s Greenwich, Conn., estate back in December.
Yamamoto flashed the look of a future star Friday night at Dodger Stadium. Yet he still fared somewhat better as a dinner guest considering the Mets’ $325M bid afterward than he did as a Dodgers pitcher against the team he ultimately rebuffed.
The Mets hit some rockets and tagged the most sought-after hurler in the history of free agency for four runs (three earned) here in a 9-4 Mets win late Friday night. Yamamoto threw 72 strikes in 99 pitches and struck out his season-high nine. He made nasty pitches, just not quite enough of them; both his record and ERA remained exactly the same — 1-1 and 4.50.
The Mets made their losing bid for Yamamoto following his meal at Cohen’s manor, and who knows, they might have thrown in the house (or at least the guest house; I’m assuming there is one, though I’ve never been) had they only gotten a wink and a nod signifying they actually had a chance. The word from folks in the know now, though, is that the bidding went so far above Yamamoto’s original target figure of around $200M, he was never going to go anywhere but his first choice Dodgers.
Teams didn’t know that back then, and the Mets did whatever they could, including a trip for Cohen and baseball president David Stearns to Japan. Still, it never felt like the Mets had a big chance.
After Yamamoto regaled the Yankees with his knowledge of pinstripe history in their meeting, Yankees people mistakenly felt they were a favorite.
Hey, maybe he’s just a history buff. Or a great actor.
As for his pitching, it’s been a mixed baseball bag so far. He posted a 1.80 ERA over the middle three of his five starts, took a 1.06 WHIP into Friday and has 30 strikeouts against only five walks. But the Dodgers have lost four of five starts. This was the first time he lasted past the fifth inning, going six and allowing seven hits.
The Mets knocked him pretty hard. Red-hot D.J. Stewart homered, Starling Marte doubled, Harrison Bader doubled among his three hits off Yamamoto (four overall) and the Mets peppered Yamamoto with liners and long flies.
Yamamoto also showed glimpses of greatness. The fastball, splitter and curveball all looked devastating at times. He has the ability but needs some adjustments.
Things are different here. The balls are bigger, the travel is harder (three time zones), the schedule is tougher, and frankly, the hitters are much better.
“He’s in the process of acclimating to an entire league, schedule and environment, and he’s doing a great job of it,” Dodgers baseball president Andrew Friedman said before Friday’s start. “He was battling some mechanical stuff early. But he’s been in a really good place since. Being around more and watching him work has only strengthened our conviction in how good he can be.”
Everyone can’t be wrong. And everyone wanted this guy.
The Yankees were in at $300M but stopped there. The Phillies reportedly went above the Dodgers’ winning $325M bid. Two more teams went to $300M. That doesn’t even include the $50M posting fee, or the added tax. The Dodgers, Mets and Yankees — three of the six high bidders — are the very teams in the highest tax bracket, the fourth-tier, so-called Steve Cohen 110 percent tax.
He was pretty good Friday, but at that rate, he’s going to have to be even better. The Dodgers are one team that can afford to be wrong, but they rarely are.
“He will be fine,” one NL scout says. “He’s learning hitters and getting used to their aggressiveness when they know he fills up the strike zone. Most of his work was done in domes, so he’s getting used to the elements. But his attention to detail is second in none, so I’d have no worries about him.”
Back in winter, there were merely a few dissenters out of scores of admirers. A couple questioned the command. A few criticized the competition. And a handful mentioned that he’s a slight right-hander, which isn’t what scouts seek. No one important was listening.
One bold AL scout says he saw Yamamoto as only a No. 3 starter, which certainly swayed not a soul (his team was one of six that bid $300M plus.)
Only a fool would bet against the Dodgers, who are right more consistently than anyone. And let’s not forget: This was a near-unanimous bet. Any team that could afford to try to outbid baseball’s biggest teams was in the bidding.
Teams loved his age (25), but it was a lot more than that. He was praised for poise, admired for aptitude and celebrated for stuff. Folks will be shocked if he doesn’t become a star.
“He’s really talented, he’s young and has the right mentality to continue to grow and get better,” Friedman said.
The Dodgers certainly are banking on it.