Yoshinobu Yamamoto Free Agency Update: Japanese ace dines out at Steve Cohen's house as pursuit for coveted pitcher heats up

The Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes continue to heat up, and the New York Mets are making big plays to try and land the Japanese ace. They are one of the teams favored to get him, and they appear to be pulling out all the stops. Though it's not their first meeting, the pitcher had dinner at Mets' owner Steve Cohen's house last night.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto had already met with Steve Cohen. In fact, Cohen flew to Japan to meet with him before Yamamoto began meeting with teams in the United States. That makes this dinner the second meeting, and it's certainly a bit more personal.

MLB reporter Joel Sherman reported on X, formerly known as Twitter:

"Yoshinobu Yamamoto had dinner on Saturday at Steve Cohen's house with a Mets contingent, The Post has learned."

There are several teams in contention for the ace's services and his price tag continues to rise. Nevertheless, the Mets are intent on making him the latest ace to don their uniform.

Sherman also reported that the "contingent" that he met with was Cohen and his wife as well as David Stearns, the new president of baseball operations, and manager Carlos Mendoza and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner.

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Will the Mets be able to land Yoshinobu Yamamoto?

The New York Mets have been in on Yoshinobu Yamamoto for a very long time, but they have tons of competition for his services. Among them are their cross-town rivals, the New York Yankees.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto met with the Mets again

The Yankees reportedly made Yamamoto their top free agency priority, even higher than trading for Juan Soto - which they accomplished. They're not going to go down without a fight.

Two teams reportedly offered Yamamoto contracts already- the Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants. Among the other contenders are the Los Angeles Dodgers, who pulled in several All-Stars for their meeting, and the Toronto Blue Jays.