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The Los Angeles Dodgers offered more money than the New York Yankees for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Yankees didn't want to spend more than $300 million on him. But, it wasn't just about money.
The Yankees thought $300 million was a good price. They also didn't want to offer Yamamoto more than they gave to Gerrit Cole in 2020, which was $324 million over nine years.
Yankees decided not to match Dodgers winning $325M bid to Yamamoto because: 1) they thought $300M was right offer, 2) they didn’t believe anyone should have a bigger deal than Gerrit Cole. NYY offered optout after 5 yrs but not a $50M signing bonus. Highly unlikely it mattered.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 23, 2023
Maybe the Yankees didn't want to make Cole feel less important. Or, they didn't want to make a new record for pitcher contracts. Cole can decide to leave his contract after the 2024 season. So, the Yankees could have offered Yamamoto more next year if they wanted.
The Dodgers were ready to pay $25 million more than the Yankees. The Yankees could have paid the same, but they chose not to. We'll see if the Yankees will miss having another top pitcher on their team.
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