The agreement, as reported Thursday by the official MLB.com portal, will report to Yamamoto, 25 years old, 325 million in total for wearing the jersey of the Los Angeles team.
The contract he signed with Yamamoto gives him an average salary of 27 million per season.
In addition to the 325 million, the agreement includes a 50 million bonus for his former team for signing rights and does not contain any deferred money.
Ohtani, to whom the Dodgers gave a professional sports recording contract totaling 700 million, and Yamamoto were the stars who carried Japan in the past World baseball classic celebrated this year that they conquered undefeated, equaling the performance of the Dominican team in 2013.
Having Yamamoto and Ohtani guarantees the Dodgers two top players, who could lead their starting rotation at some point (Ohtani won’t be able to pitch again until 2025 due to his recent surgery).
It also makes them the main focus of the large Japanese market, a major consumer of baseball from the Major competitions.
With this move, the Dodgers continue to strengthen their pitching staff, the same one that was their biggest weakness last season, and continue to show Ohtani that, as they expressed during their meeting with him and convinced him to sign with the team, they are committed to to form a team that qualifies for the World Series.
This signing makes Yamamoto the Japanese player to receive the highest value contract upon leaving Japanese professional baseball league (NPB) and move on to the Major Leagues.
In addition, this contract exceeds the total of 324 million that the New York Yankees to Gerrit Cole in 2019, giving him the biggest deal for a player who works exclusively as a pitcher (Ohtani also does it as a hitter).
With Yamamoto, the acquisition and contracting of Tyler Glasnow for five years and 135 million, the return of Walker Buehler and still waiting for the decision of the return of Clayton Kershawthe Dodgers are betting on a solid pitching rotation that, along with the high-powered offense they already have, will allow them to dominate on both sides of the game.
Reports on Yamamoto indicate that he is a potential first-line starter, who has a fastball capable of exceeding 95 miles per hour (152.8 kilometers per hour).
He also has several dominant secondary or upper level pitches, such as his powerful curveball, one of his main assets; as well as a splitter, a cutter and a slider that give him the tools to shine in the Major Leagues.
Source: El heraldo
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
