MLBcom, the official major league media outlet, said on the 22nd (Korea Standard Time) “The Dodgers signed a 12-year, 325 million-dollar contract with Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The posting fee is more than 50 million dollars. The team has not made an official announcement yet, and we are waiting for the results of the medical test.” Yamamoto reigned as Japan’s best ace in 172 games (897 innings) with 70 wins and 29 losses with a 1.82 922 strikeouts. This year, he won 16 games and lost six games with a 1.239 ERA in 164 innings, becoming the first player in the history of Japanese professional baseball to win four consecutive pitcher titles (multiple wins, ERA, strikeouts, and winning percentage). He also won the Sawamura Award and the Pacific League MVP for the third consecutive year. He is the second player to win the award for the third consecutive year since Masaiichi Kaneda (1956-1958), and the third MVP award for the third consecutive year since Ichiro Suzuki (1994-1996).
Yamamoto, who was officially allowed to post after the Japan Series, immediately emerged as the biggest professional baseball pitcher in the Major League. The Dodgers, the Mets, the Yankees, the Philadelphia Phillies, the San Francisco Giants, the Toronto Blue Jays, and many other teams rushed to recruit the pitcher. Multiple teams offered contracts worth over 300 million dollars, but the Dodgers became the final winner. Yamamoto reportedly has a clause that allows him to opt out twice while receiving a down payment of 50 million dollars. With this contract, Yamamoto broke the record for a pitcher’s largest contract ever, surpassing Gerrit Cole’s nine-year contract worth 324 million dollars. The Dodgers only pays 50.625 million dollars to the Orix Buffaloes, Yamamoto’s original team.
Prior to Yamamoto, the Dodgers shocked the baseball world by signing a 10-year, $700 million (about 910 billion won) contract with Ohtani, the best superstar in the Major League. Mike Trout’s 12-year, $426.5 million (about 554.5 billion won), which was the biggest contract in the history of Major League Baseball, as well as Lionel Messi’s 5-year, $674 million (about 876.2 billion won), breaking the record for professional sports. The Dodgers, which signed a historic contract with Ohtani, were able to propose a super-large contract to Yamamoto as Ohtani signed a delayed payment contract, which is 97% of the contract, from 10 years later. The amount of money the Dodgers invested in Ohtani and Yamamoto amounted to $1.025 billion (about 1.332.5 billion won). 메이저 토토사이트
The Major League plans to hold the opening game of the regular season between the San Diego Padres and the Dodgers at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on March 21 and 22. It is the first time that an opening game of the Major League Baseball will be held in Korea. Korea will be the 12th country where Major League games are held, and Seoul will be the fifth country in history to hold the opening game of the regular season after Monterey, Mexico, Tokyo, Puerto Rico San Juan, and Sydney, Australia.
Initially, the Seoul Series focused on Korean infielder Kim Ha-sung who is playing for the San Diego Padres. Kim had a career high season with 152 games in which he posted a batting average of 26 (140 hits in 538 times at bat), 17 homers, 60 RBIs, 84 runs scored and 38 steals, and won the Gold Glove in the utility category of the National League. The Major League Secretariat is also conducting marketing activities for the Seoul Series centering on Kim Ha-sung.
With the Dodgers recruiting Ohtani and Yamamoto, interest in the Seoul Series is growing in Japan as well. Ohtani is Japan’s best superstar in name and reality, and Yamamoto is Japan’s best ace as well. The Dodgers plan to play a total of four games in Korea, including two practice matches against the Korean team. Since the games will be held in Korea, which is close to Japan, there is a possibility that both Ohtani and Yamamoto will play for Japanese fans. In addition, with Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish also playing in San Diego, a showdown between Japanese pitchers could take place. Fans are paying keen attention to whether the opening game of the Major League, which will take place in Korea for the first time, will be Ohtani’s debut game with the Dodgers and Yamamoto’s debut game in the Major League.