Phillies news and rumors 12/11: Yankees reportedly meeting with Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is perhaps the top free agent left on the market. (The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images)

If the temporary end of obsessive flight tracking and baseless speculation isn’t the best thing to come out of Shohei Ohtani’s colossal deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, perhaps the imminent breaking of the MLB free-agent gridlock is.

We might begin to see some movement on that front — which could impact Rhys Hoskins — and the race for arguably the second-highest-profile name in this year’s class could very well be settled within New York City’s limits.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Sunday that a “contingent” from the Yankees will fly to Los Angeles on Monday to meet with Japanese sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Yankees are viewed as one of the top contenders for the three-time Sawamura Award winner, with the Mets and Dodgers rounding out what Heyman calls the “perceived favorites.”

Heyman, among others, noted that Yamamoto’s price tag could climb as high as $300 million, not completely unreasonable given his talent, age (25) and the sheer size of his market. He listed eight other teams as suitors, and though the Phillies are among that group, the club’s resigning Aaron Nola and their evidently opportunistic approach to the remainder of the offseason should render them longshots in this particular sweepstakes.

Still, though, it’s worth following said sweepstakes given the interest coming from the NL East rival Mets. Owner Steve Cohen and general manager David Stearns flew to Japan to meet with Yamamoto before the winter meetings, and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman even confessed he’s not sure “if anybody can compete with Steve Cohen.”

The Phillies would be elated to discover someone can, and their best shot might come from Cohen’s crosstown rival.

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