Mets analyst believes it is crucial for the team to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto: "He's gotta be priority number one"

There is no denying that Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the best pitcher on the open market, and the New York Mets want him. The problem is that a ton of other teams in the league want him as well.

Yamamoto was posted by the Orix Buffaloes of the Nippon Professional Baseball League on Monday. This gives teams until January 4 at 5 p.m. ET to sign him.

Yamamoto is just 25 years old and may be the best-starting pitcher to leave Japan since Masahiro Tanaka in 2014. One Mets analyst believes the team's focal point should be signing the Japanese flamethrower.

"I think he's gotta be priority number one now" stated Todd Zeile.

New York has an advantage that most other teams do not, and that is a familiar face. They signed Kodai Senga last season, and he and Yoshinobu Yamamoto played countless games against each other in Japan.

Senga has reportedly expressed to the front office his desire for the team to sign Yamamoto. If they do, that will be one tough rotation to score runs against.

Signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto would be huge for the Mets

Yamamoto Free Agent Baseball

The 2023 season did not pan out how the Mets would have hoped. They were sellers at the trade deadline, getting rid of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and any other player with some value.

To sign Yoshonibu Yamamoto would be huge for this team. He is somebody who the team can build around for the future and has electric stuff in his arsenal.

Yamamoto has earned himself three Sawamura Awards, which is the equivalent of the Cy Young Award in Major League Baseball. He threw a complete game with 14 strikeouts in his last game, cementing his legacy.

If the Mets cannot land him, expect them to shift their focus to the other big-name arms on the open market. Look for them to be interested in somebody like Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery.

It will be interesting to see how aggressive the Mets get in pursuing Yoshinobu Yamamoto.