So Sad: bad news on top bad news announced New York Giants

According to MLB.com’s s, Yamamoto has at least one offer of $300MM or more in hand.6:59pm: According to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (X link), the Giants have been notified that they are no longer in the running for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. While there is no indication that Yamamoto has made a final decision, Pavlovic believes he will sign with the Dodgers or another New York team.

According to Andy Martino of SNY, the Mets have not been told they are out of the running. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post (X link), the same is true for the Yankees. According to Heyman, the Yankees have placed a “significant bid” on the table.

Taking San Francisco off the list leaves six recognized contenders. The Blue Jays, Phillies, and Red Sox have also been involved, in addition to the Dodgers, Mets, and Yankees. This week, Philadelphia made an offer. However, reports see the Phillies, Jays, and (to a lesser extent) the Red Sox as longer shots.Yamamoto has been considering offers all week. While he officially has until the evening of January 4 to sign, it is expected that he will not do so. The fact that his camp is currently narrowing the field lends credence to the notion that a choice is not far away.

The bidding appears to be in excess of $250 million, even before accounting for a posting fee owing to the Orix Buffaloes, which might add another $45-50 million. This cost is determined as 20% of the first $25MM of the agreement, 17.5% of the following $25MM, and 15% of any extra spending. This reflects Yamamoto’s unusually young age for a free agent pitcher (25) as well as his overwhelming domination in Japan. He’s been named NPB’s best pitcher three years in a row, with a 1.21 ERA and a strikeout rate of nearly 27% in 164 innings.

It’s a setback for the Giants, who have yet to sign another top-tier free agent. Within the last two offseasons, the Giants have missed out on Aaron Judge, Trea Turner, and Shohei Ohtani, while their deal with Carlos Correa fell through due to a physical. Yamamoto will be added to that list. San Francisco did sign KBO star Jung Hoo Lee to a six-year, $113MM contract — the richest deal in Farhan Zaidi’s career as baseball operations president — but they haven’t landed a truly outstanding free agent in a while.

San Francisco still has plenty of spending power as it decides what to do next. Roster Resource anticipates spending roughly $158 million in 2024. This is roughly $30MM less than this year’s Opening Day total. From a luxury tax standpoint, they are nearly $45MM below the base threshold. This opens the door for a run at any of the top remaining free agents. The rotation is led by Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, with Matt Chapman on the radar early in the offseason. So was the top available bat, Cody Bellinger, though the addition of Lee appears to rule out pursuing another lefty-swinging center fielder.