The offseason has yet to truly kick into gear, as the GM conferences ended disastrously and it is a bit of a weird free agent class. We will hopefully begin to see some action pick up quickly, as the starting pitching market is decently strong. The quantity and quality of the free agents coming from abroad is a pretty fascinating factor to this offseason. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is a particularly fascinating name and is pretty extensively anticipated to get a massive contract right at the top of the non-Ohtani free agent class. There is the fundamental unknown of coming from another league and he is smaller sized than the model starter, at 5’10, but his historic level dominance and apparent quality to the eye and in the information ought to earn him a great deal of cash. His age being 25 years old is also an intriguing aspect. There are essentially never possible front-line starters available to sign on the free market at this age. The Braves have so far limited themselves in the free agent market under this front office, however I do question if Yamamoto’s young age and potential discount rate for being reasonably unknown might make him an exception for Atlanta in an offseason when they clearly require to add a quality starter. I would still be surprised if they signed Yamamoto, however his fairly special profile does at least force me to ask the question. Yamamoto’s level of basic interest from groups, ultimate contract, and quality when he in fact begins pitching is among the most intriguing stories to me league-wide over the next year.
