(Nashville) New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and David Stearns, president of baseball operations, traveled to Japan ahead of the Major Baseball Winter Conference to meet free agent Yoshinobu Yamamoto and his family.
Cohen’s trip was first reported by The Athletic.
A 25-year-old right-handed pitcher, Yamamoto went 16-6 with a 1.21 ERA last season with the Orix Buffaloes of the Pacific League in Japan. In 164 innings of work, he struck out 169 batters and allowed just 28 walks.
Major League Baseball teams have until Jan. 4 to sign him.
Stearns said that all teams interested in his services would eventually meet with him, but that this trip to Japan was a way to show Yamamoto what kind of organization the Mets are.
“Who we are, what we want to do and how we’re going to do it,” noted Sterans, who declined to say whether Mets pitcher Kodei Senga, second in NL Rookie of the Year voting, was on the trip.
Yamamoto is also being courted by the Yankees. Their general manager, Brian Cashman, was present on September 9 when Yamamoto threw a no-hitter against the Lotte Marines. The Yankees are scheduled to meet with the pitcher on Monday in California, The Associated Press has learned from a person familiar with the matter.
In seven seasons in Japan, Yamamoto compiled a 70-29 record with a 1.82 ERA. He set a Japanese playoff record with 14 strikeouts in a 138-pitch complete game against Hanshin on November 5.
