Free agents, trades, and moves Yamamoto finalists can pursue
When Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed a 12-year, $325 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers — after the team had already added Shohei Ohtani on a 10-year, $700 million contract — L.A. ended up with the two biggest fish in the free agent market. A number of teams had one or both of those new Dodgers at the top of their target list. What should those front offices do now?
Here’s a look at how I would proceed if I were running the teams that were finalists for Yamamoto (and in many cases, Ohtani), now left to look in another direction. These Plan Bs are informed by what I’m hearing these teams are already doing or considering, along with my own thoughts on their best options. The teams are listed in order of current roster quality per FanGraphs depth charts.
The Yankees reportedly offered Yamamoto a 10-year, $300 million deal, and it seems certain that they will continue pursuing starting pitching. Gerrit Cole is the only reliable playoff starter among their current rotation options, with Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt and Nestor Cortes as the other projected starters and the fifth spot a question mark. New York could even stand to add two starters and create a competition, because the odds are low that all three of those secondary options behind Cole make 25-plus starts and/or produce consistently.
I don’t think the top free agent options left fit what the Yankees need: Blake Snell has way too much Rodon-type risk to him, Jordan Montgomery will cost about what Rodon did last offseason and offer less upside while also not being the type of pitcher the Yankees have targeted (i.e., younger or with better raw stuff). After those two, the remaining free agent starters are mid-rotation types and New York needs more impact than that.
