In an off-season where there was a lot of initial hope, it seems like the Cubs will come up empty handed acquiring top-tier talent yet again as they might be moving on from Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
When it became well known that Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto would be coming to the States, the Cubs were one of the first teams to be linked to him. It made a lot of sense as the Cubs need a frontline starter to pair with Justin Steele. At just 25 years old and already one of the most accomplished pitchers in NPB history, it was to be assumed he would be a hot commodity.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto certainly has been, probably even more than the Cubs thought, as the rumors have been that his contract could reach as high as 300 million dollars. That fact seems to have taken the Cubs out of the running for his services. Here’s what Patrick Mooney and Shadahev Sharma from the Athletic had to say on the subject:
Yoshinobu Yamamoto has generated so much interest from both New York teams and other big-market franchises that the Cubs are not expected to proceed in those high-stakes negotiations
It looks like Jed Hoyer will once again swing and miss on reeling in big-time talent as we have already seen Juan Soto be traded to the Yankees and the team continues to fall behind in the race for Shohei Ohtani. For an off-season that seemed like the Cubs were going to really go out and be aggressive to make a big splashy move, they have so far chosen to take a back seat and shy away from making the big move, outside of Counsell.
Lucky for them, there are some good players out there to add to improve the roster. They have been rumored to Hoskins, Chapman, and maybe still Bellinger on the hitting front. Then of course Glasnow, Bieber, and maybe even Corbin Burnes to strengthen the rotation. Even still, all these guys would feel more like a consolation prize after being “in” on the franchise altering talent that was right there in front of them.
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