Yamamoto Bypasses Boston on East Coast Visit

Aug 4, 2021; Yokohama, Japan; Team Japan pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (17) reacts against Korea in a baseball semifinal match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games at Yokohama Baseball Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports

While the Red Sox are still technically in on free agent Japanese phenom pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto their chances appear to be on life support.

Over the weekend, Yamamoto had second meetings in New York with the Mets and Yankees but did not schedule a stop in Boston.

Boston did recently meet with Yamamoto, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

Yamamoto is expected to fetch a contract north of $300 million. The suitors include Boston, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants.

Though some recent reports suggested offers had already been made over the weekend, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported on Monday that Yamamoto and his agent Joel Wolfe asked teams to refrain from making official offers until all of their meetings had taken place. Teams were asked, according to Passan, to make preliminary offers to show their seriousness but full offers are expected to be made in the coming days.

John Zannis