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Yoshinobu Yamamoto's free agency is expected to be a frenzy, and only one team can come out on top. With top free agents, that often means pulling out all the stops and doing things a team might not do for everyone. With Yamamoto, one team is trying something rather unique to set themselves apart.
It's no secret that the New York Yankees were bad in 2023, and they're expected to be very active in trades and in the free agent market to fix that. That includes Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and they've gone an interesting route to express their desire.
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Andy Martino of SNY reported that the Yankees are purposefully withholding a certain number in the hopes that Yamamoto will wear it. The Japanese ace wore 18 and that number has significance to him, so no Yankees player has worn it last year and no one will be given it unless the pitcher signs elsewhere.
18 is generally considered the ace number in Japanese baseball. It was Masahiro Tanaka's number in the NBL, though he opted to wear 19 in the Bronx to honor Hiroki Kuroda, another Japanese ace who was on the team at the time.
It's a special number, and the Yankees have purposefully kept it away from other players to try and woo Yamamoto, one of the best pitchers out there. That's tremendously significant given the overall lack of good, available uniform numbers in New York.
Yankees going all out in Yoshinobu Yamamoto free agency
The Yankees likely didn't promise Aaron Judge the captaincy if he re-signed, but they did name him the captain after he agreed to a massive $40 million per year contract.
He was tabbed to follow up Derek Jeter, and it was a huge honor. If it was mentioned, it probably increased his desire to sign with them. They are hoping that a similar gesture will do the same for Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Uniform numbers matter to a lot of players. In New York, however, the uniform itself, in all its pinstriped glory, matters a little more to fans and the team. The fact that the Yankees are eschewing that to ensure Yamamoto can wear the number he always has is big.
