Dodgers to sign pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto for record $325M

Dec. 22 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers and Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto agreed to a 12-year, $325 million contract, adding another strong arm to their already stellar starting rotation.

Sources told ESPN, MLB.com and the Los Angeles Times about the agreement Thursday night. The contract is the most-valuable, and longest, ever given to an MLB full-time pitcher. The high-coveted free agent must pass a physical to complete the transaction.

Yamamoto, 25, drew interest from many other teams, including the New York Yankees, New York Mets, and Philadelphia Phillies. The right-handed pitcher is now expected to slot in alongside Walker Buehler, Tyler Glasnow, Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan in the Dodgers' 2024 rotation.

Veteran starter Clayton Kershaw, who remains a free agent, also could opt to re-sign with the Dodgers, adding even more talent to the rotation.

Shohei Ohtani, who joined the Dodgers earlier this month, can't pitch this season as he recovers from surgery, but is expected to join Yamamoto and Glasnow in the rotation in 2025.

Yamamoto went 17-6 with a 1.16 ERA over 24 appearances last season for the Orix Buffaloes of Japan's Pacific League. He went 18-5 with a 1.39 ERA in 2021 and 15-5 with a 1.68 ERA in 2022.

He was the Pacific League MVP for the last three seasons. He also earned the Sawamura Award, a Cy Young Award equivalent in the Japanese league, during each of those campaigns.

The Dodgers will pay a $50.6 million posting fee to the Buffaloes. The $375 million package to acquire the pitcher, paired with the $700 million contract for Ohtani, will push the Dodgers' off-season spending spree over $1 billion.