Japan WBC Reunion: Yamamoto to Dodgers
Fellow countryman and WBC teammate Yamamoto has decided to join Ohtani in LA, their combined contracts totaling over $1 billion.
The news came on Thursday night that Yamamoto had picked a team, right after Ohtani attended a Los Angeles Rams game.
Yamamoto Makes His Decision
When Japan won the World Baseball Classic in March earlier this year, one of Ohtani’s teammates was Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Yamamoto has played in Japan for seven years for the Orix Buffaloes (Nippon Professional Baseball), where he’s been lights out.
Over the past three seasons, he’s won Japan’s version of the Cy Young across 2021, 2022, and 2023 – with an ERA of 1.39, 1.68, and 1.16 respectively.
For international players coming to play MLB baseball in America, you need to have both six years of experience in a professional league and be 25-years-old in order to get your full monetary value. Otherwise, compensation is limited to bonus pools of less than $10 million.
Ohtani had come over from Japan at 23, sacrificing money, when he started his rookie MLB season in 2018. But Yamamoto decided to wait until turning 25 this past August to then officially become posted as a free agent.
It was wise of Yamamoto to wait it out. He has been arguably the most highly coveted free agent behind Ohtani this winter, drawing a lot of interest and a bidding war.
Over the past couple of weeks, it was rumored that the main leading candidates poised to land him were either the New York teams (Yankees / Mets) or the Dodgers, and Yamamoto was still speaking with other cities.
On late Thursday night, or Friday early afternoon in Japan, a decision was made.
Yamamoto agreed to a 12-year, $325 million contract with the Dodgers. None of that money will be deferred.
The Yankees reportedly offered $300 million over 10 years. The Mets reportedly offered the same $325 million amount (years unknown).
However, Yamamoto stayed clear of the East Coast and decided to go to the West Coast instead. One has to wonder how much Ohtani’s influence impacted it.
When the Dodgers met with Yamamoto last Tuesday to further convince him to join the squad, they went all out. Not only were All Star players Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in the meeting, so was Ohtani.
We’ll see if Yamamoto confirms that playing with Ohtani swayed his decision, especially since the Mets matched the money. Either way, both Yamamoto and Ohtani will now have a friend on the team right away, which should make the transition easier for both of them.
The 12 year contract is the biggest total amount for a pitcher in history, beating Gerrit Cole’s contract by $1 million – though Cole’s was only 9 years for his $324 million, so he still holds a higher average annual value.
It is also the longest contract for a pitcher in MLB history, breaking the previous record of Wayne Garland, for 10 years in 1977.
This all without Yamamoto ever having thrown a pitch in MLB yet.
The Dodgers spent a total of over a billion dollars (literally) on the Japanese duo this offseason. The pressure rises further.
Earlier on Thursday evening, Ohtani had gone to SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles to see the Rams play the Saints in a football game.
He was on the sidelines before the game, and was given a custom jersey. Ohtani and Ippei then went into a suite and enjoyed the game. After the Rams won, 30-22, Ohtani stopped by the locker room to congratulate them – shaking hands with coach Sean McVay and quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Sending Gloves to Japan
Ohtani had announced on Instagram earlier in November that he was donating 60,000 of his New Balance gloves to elementary schools in Japan (around 20,000 schools).
Now, Ohtani’s own elementary school back in his hometown of Iwate got some too.
“I hope this glove will be a symbol to give our next generation a dream and encourage,” Ohtani said in a note to the school. “Because baseball is a sport that gave me the opportunity to live a fulfilling life.”
They even had an unveiling party where the children tried using the gloves for the first time, playing catch and testing them out.
The school's principal called the donation a big Christmas present, NHK World-Japan noted. “Ohtani's playing will give the children energy and hope.”
Decoy & The Kooikerheads
Lindsey Adler of the Wall Street Journal wrote an article about Decoy and his breed – Shohei Ohtani is sharing the spotlight with an unlikely co-star. His pooch, Decoy, is a Nederlandse Kooikerhondje, thrilling a quirky circle of U.S. ‘Kooikerheads.’
Some interesting excerpts:
So few Kooikers live in the U. S.—1,000 or less, per current estimates—that the lineage of a purebred can sometimes be intuited just by looking at the dog.
The name is pertinent: Kooikers, with their attention-getting orange fur and white tails, were originally used as decoys for duck hunting.
Kooikerhondjes, according to people who own them, aren’t necessarily a fit for everyone. They can be high-maintenance—aloof, but also thoroughly goofy and loyal. They are eager learners, but not particularly emotionally resilient and can be quite sensitive. Their friendly King Charles-esque appearance belies the challenges of raising them, but an increasing number of Americans have become ardent Kooikerheads over the last decade.
And on a related note: Here’s a fan-made Pop! style figure of Ohtani with Decoy at his side. Good job by @Ariichiiyoko. It would be cool to see Funko make this official.
Final Notes
🏥 Ohtani in the outfield next offseason? Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said it’s been discussed and Ohtani’s open to the possibility if his arm is healthy. (Ohtani has played the outfield before in Japan, and a handful of innings for the Angels in 2021)
🎨 Murals are popping up around LA for Ohtani, like this one at 3232 Manhattan Ave in Hermosa Beach, by artist Gustavo Zelmeno Jr.
🎙️ We released a new podcast episode talking about the contract deferral, press conference, dog name reveal, and more. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!
🙏🏼 Shoutout to all the great Ohtani stan accounts for always being a great resource for clips and info – including some of our favs like @shoheisaveus, @ohtanishoheiday, @jell_ni, and more.
🎨 Thank you to 冷し中華 (hiyachu) - @hiyashichuka17 for drawing our email banner design and sign-up page illustration.
😅 Ohtani and Yamamoto are reunited. Dodgers fans are having one of the craziest offseasons of all time. The rest of MLB fanbases… not as happy by this news.
