Source: Phillies make offer to Yoshinobu Yamamoto

The Phillies have made an offer to free-agent right-handed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a source confirmed to The Inquirer on Wednesday.

Yamamoto, 25, is the most sought after free-agent pitcher on the market. He has been connected to the Dodgers, Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Giants and Blue Jays.

While it is unlikely that the Phillies will be the highest bidder for Yamamoto, a source with direct knowledge of the team’s thinking said they were planning to be “aggressive.” The Phillies met with Yamamoto last week. As part of their presentation, he received a FaceTime from Bryce Harper.

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Yamamoto has spent his entire career pitching in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, where he’s posted a 1.72 ERA over 967⅔ innings with 986 strikeouts and just 216 walks. He won the Pacific League MVP Award twice, the Eiji Sawamura Award — Japan’s version of the Cy Young Award — three times, the Triple Crown three times, and the Gold Glove twice.

The Phillies have publicly said that their rotation is set, and they are only looking to improve along the margins this offseason, but Yamamoto’s relatively young age — compared to other free-agent starters on the market — and talent, make him worth an offer. It will ultimately boil down to what he prioritizes. The Phillies don’t have an extensive history of signing Japanese players.

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But they are in win-now mode — and have the 2022 World Series and 2023 NLCS appearances to prove it— which could be appealing to Yamamoto. MLB Network reported on Tuesday that Yamamoto wants to pitch on the “biggest stage in MLB.” While only Yamamoto knows what that means, the Phillies could make an argument that Citizens Bank Park in October qualifies.

The Athletic was first to report the offer.