By MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS, Rafu Sports Editor
If Dave Roberts feels like the most envied manager in baseball, it’s perfectly understandable.
“Our ownership and front office did a fantastic job,” Roberts told reporters on Wednesday, with a broad smile on his face.
The Dodger manager’s comments came at the tail end of a press conference in which the team announced the signing of the most coveted pitcher available from the Japanese pro leagues, Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The 25-year-old, who led Japan’s Pacific League in wins, ERAs, strikeouts and winning percentage the past three seasons for the Orix Buffaloes, has signed a deal with L.A. worth a reported $325 million over 12 years.
Immediately after being introduced on a stage erected in the centerfield concourse at Dodger Stadium, Yamamoto made clear his desire to fit in with his new surroundings.
“Good afternoon. My name is Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the L.A. Dodgers,” he said in careful but confident English. “I am beyond ecstatic to become a member of this historic franchise and cannot express how much it means to me to be able to call Los Angeles my new home.”
He was among the most coveted players available this offseason, with several teams reportedly vying enthusiastically for his services, including the New York Mets, New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants.
With the signing, the Dodgers have had quite a month, securing arguably the top three available players on the market ahead of 2024. They traded for Tampa Bay ace Tyler Glasnow shortly after landing the biggest free agent fish – perhaps in history – by signing Shohei Ohtani.
Roberts said a lot of homework and man hours went into getting the two Japanese stars to sign on the Dodgers’ dotted line.
“You know the talents, and we’re all very excited about it, but these men are equally men of character,” Roberts said. “I know that our fan base is going to really take to these men individually. And you know what it’s doing not only for Los Angeles, our country, our sport, but the country of Japan. So this is a big win. This has been a monumental offseason for all of us.”
“It has been an exciting couple of weeks for the Dodgers community,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said. “Being able to add a starting pitcher as decorated and talented as Yoshinobu Yamamoto is a great way to wrap up 2023 and to add to what we expect to be a thrilling 2024 season.”
Yamamoto will again join forces with Ohtani, his mate from the Japanese team that won the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Ohtani signed a free-agent contract with the Dodgers earlier in the month, for a record $700 million over 10 years.
Yamamoto also said Ohtani was one of the reasons for his decision to join the Dodgers. Earlier this month, Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman were all present when Yamamoto was invited to Dodger Stadium. Ohtani has agreed to have the lion’s share of his salary deferred, allowing the team to pursue top-flight players – like Yamamoto.
“From today moving forward, I promise to all the fans of L.A. that I’ll focus everything to become a better player and a world champion as a member of the Dodgers,” Yamamoto added, through interpreter Mako Albee. “I’m truly grateful to each and every one of the Dodgers staff members for repeatedly going over to Japan to see me play and not only giving me this opportunity, but thinking so highly of me as well.
“Throughout this posting process, many teams showed great interest and each recruited me with great enthusiasm. It was a month that made me feel greatly overjoyed. Every team I met with had many great qualities. After much consideration, unfortunately I had to decline their offers but I truly appreciated all the time and resources everyone has spent throughout this process.”
The Buffaloes’ fourth-round draft pick in 2017, Yamamoto had a 16-6 record with a career-best 1.21 ERA and 169 strikeouts over 164 innings in 23 games last season.
He won the Eiji Sawamura Award for Japan’s top starting pitcher in the past three seasons, helping Orix win three league pennants over the same span. He has a 70-29 career record with a 1.82 ERA in seven years.
“You don’t win three MVP awards by the age of 25 without an exceptional combination of talent, work ethic and mental toughness,” said Andrew Friedman, president of Dodgers baseball operations. “He’s an elite pitcher with an impressive dedication to his craft who will only become more dynamic in a Dodger uniform. We are thrilled for him to be a mainstay at the top of our starting rotation for years to come.”
For Yamamoto, the Dodgers are expected to pay a posting fee of around $50.6 million to the Osaka-based Buffaloes.
At the top of Roberts’ 2024 lineup – along with Betts, Freeman and Ohtani – will be excitement and expectation. Not just the expectation to win, but to win it all. The Dodgers’ lone World Series championship in the last three decades came in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, played mostly in empty stadiums that echoed with the lack of spectators.
Despite making the playoffs in each of the last 11 seasons, the talent-rich teams afforded to Roberts figured – on paper, at least – to have earned another ring or two. Fans are still inexorably bitter about the 2017 World Series loss to the Astros, who were found to have cheated by electronically stealing opposing teams’ signs through the postseason.
“We’re very excited to get going,” Roberts admitted, noting how much the staff has sacrificed their holiday time with family during the team’s whirlwind of signings in December. “I was telling [Gomes] how I was talking to Tyler Glasnow on the way up here and trying to temper our excitement because once we get started we don’t stop for quite some time.”
As far as communication is concerned, Roberts – who was born in Japan – said he agreed to challenge Yamamoto to speak English, while the new Dodger will challenge his manager to speak Japanese.
“He’ll probably do better than me,” Roberts said with a laugh.
– Additional details from Kyodo News