"Gerrit Cole's ego mattered more" - Fans erupt as John Heyman’s take on Yankees’ failed $325M Yoshinobu Yamamoto chase resurfaces

"Gerrit Cole
"Gerrit Cole's ego mattered more" - Fans erupt as John Heyman’s take on Yankees’ failed $325M Yoshinobu Yamamoto chase resurfaces. Credit: GETTY

MLB insider Jon Heyman's latest update regarding Yoshinobu Yamamoto's free agency before the 2024 season is driving New York Yankees fans nuts. Yamamoto signed a 12-year, $325 million deal with the Dodgers, and his two back-to-back complete games in the postseason have many Yankees fans frustrated about why the team missed out on the opportunity to bring a quality arm into the fold.

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According to Heyman, the Yankees did not match the Dodgers' winning bid for Yamamoto for several reasons:

"1) they thought $300M was right offer, 2) they didn’t believe anyone should have a bigger deal than Gerrit Cole. NYY offered optout after 5 yrs but not a $50M signing bonus. Highly unlikely it mattered."
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After seeing the reason, one Yankees fan hit the front office for putting Gerrit Cole's ego over the team's interest.

"But hey! Gerrit Cole’s ego mattered more right?" one fan wrote.
"I wonder if Cole cares more for a ring than someone on his team making a few more M’s than him," one fan added.
"Yankees got Cole in their stockings this year," one fan joked.
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"This is painful to read lol," another fan wrote.
"Keep this in the bookmarks. See you in 12 years everyone 🫡" one fan added.
"The Yankees taking the hard line stance to not improve their ballclub because they didn't want the new pitcher to make more than the current ace is the most post-George Steinbrenner Yankee thing ever. No wonder their enormous, entitled fan base continues to live in the past. Smh," one fan posted.
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Yoshinobu Yamamoto showing up for Dodgers in their second straight World Series chase

While the fans are debating whether the Yankees should have gone after Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the right-hander is proving his worth with his performances this postseason. Yamamoto is 5 ft 10, but he is standing all against some of the best hitters in baseball.

In World Series Game 2, Yamamoto delivered under pressure, throwing a complete game in enemy territory. He gave up only one run while retiring 27 batters, including eight strikeouts, against only four hits.

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He joins Curt Schilling (2001) as the only pitcher in the Wild Card Era to throw two complete back-to-back games in the postseason.

Like how Shohei Ohtani's massively deferred $700 million is now feeling cheap, maybe someday opposing team fans will come to terms that Yamamoto's $325 million deal was also cheap and their teams could have gone harder for him.

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Edited by Krutik Jain
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