Phillies Tap Heavy Hitter for Free Agency Sales Pitch to Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Philadelphia brought in a heavy hitter to bolster its pitch to the Japanese ace.
MLB teams have been pulling out all the stops in attempts to woo free agent pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto this offseason.
The Phillies reportedly are the most recent team to meet with Yamamoto. So, it only makes sense that Philadelphia would call for star Bryce Harper to FaceTime with the Japanese ace while he was negotiating with the team, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported Monday.
It’s unknown what Harper said in his pitch to Yamamoto, but regardless, it was probably useful for the prospect to hear from the two-time NL MVP.
The news comes shortly after it was reported that new Dodgers signee Shohei Ohtani showed up during Yamamoto’s meeting with Los Angeles. Dodgers stars Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman reportedly also were there. So, in the past week alone, Yamamoto has spoken with some of MLB’s biggest names.
The Phillies and Dodgers aren’t the only two teams interested in Yamamoto. The Red Sox, Giants, Yankees and Mets all been linked to the standout right-hander. Yamamoto had dinner with Mets owner Steve Cohen over the weekend, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported.
The 25-year-old Yamamoto posted a 1.21 ERA over 164 innings this year in one of his best seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league.