Yamamoto Inks $12 Year, $325 Million Dollar Deal in LA, Largest Contract For a Pitcher in MLB History

LOS ANGELES, CA- The LA Dodgers are making big moves, going from hateable losers to super team monstrosity that will SURELY get a title, right? I mean, when has this not worked out, multiple 10+ year contracts on the books and 5 major personalities in the same locker room, this HAS to work.

Like their LA counterpart, the Dodgers are loading everything up thanks to Andrew Friedman's spending that would probably rival any Saudi King's soccer spending. Friedman's spending spree feels like a desperate executive, knowing his job is severely in danger if they don't win within 2 seasons after spending all the money they already have spent on guys like Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Usually, when a GM has his nuts on the line, the spending will go down because ownership has the collar strapped high and the leash shortened but they seemed to have let him run out of the house, if he does a good job, they'll welcome him back into the house and if he can't wrangle in the wolf eating all of the chickens, they'll let him run off to find another family.

Yamamoto is considered one of the greatest pitchers in NPB history, he debuted with the Orix Buffaloes at 18 and was a monster, boasting a 1.82 ERA in a SEVEN (!!!) year career in the NPB. Most notably, he helped his teammate and country mate, Shohei Ohtani, win the World Baseball Classic. Since 2021, he has won the Japan Series, 3 pitching triple crowns, 3 Japanese Cy Young awards and 3 Pacific League MVPs, pure domination.

Yamamoto's greatness has been paid out as his contract is the most expensive pitching contract in MLB history, barely pushing past Gerrit Cole's nine year, $324 million deal with the Yankees. It is also the most valuable contract for any NPB player moving over to the MLB, with the next closest being Masahiro Tanaka (7 years, $155 million, $20 million posting fee) and Masataka Yoshida (5 years, $90 million, $15.4 million posting fee), it's safe to say, LA got their guy, especially considering they have no deferrals in the contract. The Dodgers are as all in as all in can be, can the Japanese stars shake this curse?