MLB Insider Ranks Chances Red Sox Win Yoshinobu Yamamoto Sweepstakes

It’s hard to figure out exactly where the Boston Red Sox stand when it comes to Yoshinobu Yamamoto given the number of conflicting reports.

At the very least, the Red Sox are in the mix for the coveted Japanese starting pitcher. But they are hardly the only team trying to land Yamamoto.

Boston will have to beat out several other contenders if it wants to have the 25-year-old right-hander wear a Red Sox uniform next season. And with Yamamoto needing to make a decision by the Jan. 4 posting deadline, the Red Sox aren’t seen as the favorite to sign Yamamoto, according to well-connected MLB writer Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Heyman puts the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers as the two teams with the best chance to obtain Yamamoto and have him as a frontline starter in the rotation next season.

But where does Heyman rank the Red Sox’s chances? They are a little further down the list, sporting the fifth-best chance to acquire Yamamoto behind the Yankees, Dodgers, New York Mets and San Francisco Giants.

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But while other teams might be in a better position at the moment to get Yamamoto, Heyman isn’t completely ruling out Boston.

“No one needs starting pitching more. They were beat out for Seth Lugo but that doesn’t mean they can’t win a bigger competition,” Heyman wrote.

The Red Sox have already made a “big bid” for Yamamoto, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, and it’s certainly going to take a big contract to lure the pitcher to Boston. Heyman noted that Yamamoto’s contract will likely be in the $300 million range.

Boston still has yet to make a big splash this offseason with chief baseball officer Craig Breslow mostly making minor moves on the fringes of the roster.

But if the Red Sox can beat the odds with several teams vying for the services of Yamamoto and win the sweepstakes for the Japanese star, they will have one of the biggest pitching prizes of the offseason.