Red Sox are meeting with Yoshinobu Yamamoto (report)
The Boston Red Sox have been linked to right-hander pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto almost all offseason. The club and the prized right-hander will finally meet this offseason.
According Mark Feinsand of MLB Network the Red Sox will meet with Yamamoto in the “coming days.” Feinsand added that the Blue Jays and two or three more other teams will likely have a meeting too.
As of now, it is unclear of any other details of the meeting for the Red Sox. A key detail to find out, if it is ever reported, will be who is attending the meetings. Specifically, will ownership and/or CEO Sam Kennedy be involved.
The involved known teams to this point that have had a meeting according to Feinsand are the Mets, Yankees, and Giants.
Will Sammon of The Atheltic reported that Mets general manager David Stearns and owner Steve Cohen actually flew to Japan to meet with Yamamoto prior to him making his way to the United States. It is unclear if the Mets have had or intend to have another meeting.
The Yankees had their meeting with Yamamoto on Monday, as first reported by Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Jack Curry of the YES Network posted that after their meeting the Yankees “remain optimistic.”
Andy Martino of SNY reported the Yankees planned to send a large group. This included managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner, general manager Brian Cashman, manager Aaron Boone and pitching coach Matt Blake.
The San Francisco Giants have been trying to land a superstar player for the last two offseasons. They missed out on Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa, and of course Shohei Ohtani this year. Buster Olney of ESPN reported that the Giants had their meeting this past Sunday.
Ohtani already went to the Dodgers, but because of the deferred money on his 10-year, $700 million contract, Los Angeles is on the hunt once again. While their exact meeting date has not been reported, Russell Dorsey of Bally Sports tweeted a meeting is expected later this week.
With all of these scheduled meetings, it is clear Yamamoto will take his time deciding where he wants to go. However, with all of these meetings expected to take place close together, a deal being agreed to in the next couple weeks would not be surprising.
Follow Matt on Twitter @BSTRONG415
For additional Red Sox, Bruins, Patriots, MLB and NFL content follow Beyond the Monster on Twitter @BeyondtheMnstr.