Add another name to the list in the Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes.
The San Francisco Giants met with the Japanese star on Sunday, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney.
They’re the latest large market team to meet with Yamamoto to try and enlist his services.
The Yankees were reportedly expected to meet with Yamamoto’s camp on Monday and Mets owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns flew to Japan recently to meet with the Orix Buffaloes ace.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has followed Yamamoto closely and flew to Japan in September where he saw him throw a no-hitter.
A number of teams have been expected to be in the running to sign Yamamoto and The Athletic listed the Giants as one of seven teams expected to be “serious” suitors for him.
The Dodgers, Mets, Yankees and Blue Jays were also named among that group.
“He’s a tremendous opportunity for anybody and I’ll just leave it at that. But a very impressive and talented player,” Cashman said about Yamamoto during the winter meetings last week.
The Dodgers are still interested in Yamamoto even after they signed Shohei Ohtani to a historic $700 million contract on Saturday, though the Mets and Yankees are perceived to be the favorites, The Post’s Jon Heyman reported over the weekend.
Yamamoto is likely going to get a massive contract wherever he ends up signing that will be “considerably” north of $200 million, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal reported last week on “Foul Territory.”
Considering the accolades Yamamoto has racked up during his time in Nippon Professional Baseball, it’s easy to see why he’d be in such high demand.
Yamamoto, 25, has won Pacific League MVP three years straight and was given the Eiji Sawamura Award as the best pitcher in the NPB.
He went 17-6 with a 1.16 ERA during the 2023 season and carried a 1.72 ERA and 0.915 WHIP since he debuted in the NPB in 2017.
Adding Yamamoto to the Giants’ roster would give them another ace in their rotation in addition to Logan Webb, who has been in the Cy Young conversation in back-to-back years and finished second in voting this past season.