First, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was going to the “Thursday Night Football” game between the Rams and Saints.
Then he wasn’t.
The Post’s Jon Heyman put to bed rumors that Yamamoto would be attending the NFL contest in a suite and later in the evening the star Japanese pitcher signed with the Dodgers.
Nevertheless, the rumblings highlighted how intense the pursuit of the top free agent on the market was in the baseball world.
Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times reported that the Japanese hurler was set to take in the Rams game at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles from a suite with countryman and newly anointed $700 million man Shohei Ohtani, fueling rumors they would team up on the Dodgers.
Harris later updated his report, saying the “Rams were expecting him to be there, but plans apparently changed.”
Fans and baseball pundits have been grasping for any indication of which way the wind is blowing for Yamamoto, who is seeing bids well over $300 million, according to Heyman, who reports the Yankees, Mets and Dodgers remain frontrunners with the Phillies in the dark horse position.
The rumor mill is seemingly headed toward the levels hit by Ohtani, who was rumored to be on a Toronto-bound flight by internet sleuths and also connected to a supposed sushi dinner booked by Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi by opera singer Clarence Frazer, which Kikuchi later clarified did not happen.
The Yoshiobu Yamamoto sweepstakes are reaching a fever pitch. Getty ImagesOhtani, it turned out, never left his Southern California home and later signed his historic deal with the Dodgers.
He did, however, make the trek to SoFi Stadium on Thursday — but without Yamamoto, who is now his teammate.
The Dodgers were one of the several teams in hot pursuit of Yamamoto.
Other teams who battled for, but lost out on, Yamamoto include the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Red Sox, Phillies and the Blue Jays.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto was set to attend the Rams-Saints game with Shohei Ohtani — or was he? APWhile it hasn’t reached flight-tracking status just yet, the Yamamoto sweepstakes are in full swing, with teams bringing out the big guns for the 25-year-old who has won the Japanese equivalent of the Cy Young award in three consecutive seasons.
The Mets had him attend a dinner at team owner Steve Cohen’s home in Connecticut, and the Dodgers included Ohtani in their sit-down with the hurler at Dodger Stadium.
On Thursday, Yankees manager Aaron Boon revealed that they gave him a Yankee jersey with No. 18 on it and that their pitch included a video message from Hideki Matsui.
Aaron Boone was part of the Yankees contingent to pitch to Yamamoto. Robert Sabo for NY Post“It’s been fun to get to meet him a couple times and be around him and have conversations,’’ Boone said. “Now we’ll see how it goes. I know all teams are now putting their best foot forward and negotiating. That’s above my pay grade. We’ll see where he lands.”
It was with the Dodgers, not the Yankees or Mets.
