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The New York Yankees would like to add Juan Soto, but the focus of their offseason appears to be Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
They've not had recent conversations around Soto and are reportedly looking at the Japanese ace as their top target.
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MLB reporter Bob Nightengale tweeted on X, formerly known as Twitter:
"While the New York Yankees await the Padres' asking price to drop for OF Juan Soto, their No. 1 priority continues to be Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They consider their stiffest competition for Yamamoto to be the Dodgers, although the Mets and Giants can't be ruled out."
The Yoshinobu Yamamoto sweepstakes are expected to involve a lot of teams. That reportedly includes the Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets. Other teams may get involved as well.
Earlier reports said that the talks between the Padres and Yankees have ground to a halt with the Yankees considering San Diego to be "unrealistic". They consider Soto a secondary target to Yamamoto.
New York Yankees prioritizing Yoshinobu Yamamoto
When Yankees' GM Brian Cashman traveled to Japan to watch Yoshinobu Yamamoto throw a no-hitter, the connection was instantly made. The Yankees are always in on the big free agents and were going to be in on Yamamoto.
However, their pursuit of him didn't begin this offseason. In fact, the Yankees have held the number 18, which is the ace's number, to leave it open for him. They didn't let any 2023 player have it so that Yamamoto could wear it in 2024 if they're able to sign him.
The number is significant to him and in Japanese culture, and the Yankees did their research. Now that Juan Soto may be out of the budget, the Yankees can fall back on their detailed and impressive pursuit of the MLB free agent.
Whether or not they be able to outdo all those other teams remains to be seen, but they will not go down without a fight. Reports suggest that he's the priority. Their behavior seems to back that up.
