MLB analyst strongly believes Giants will be aggressive in signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto: "They won't allow another team to outbid them"

According to MLB analyst Jim Riley, Yoshinobu Yamamoto has a good chance of signing with the San Francisco Giants. The Orix Buffaloes granted Yamamoto permission to transfer to the major leagues following their best-of-seven series loss in the Japan Series.

At the mound, the RHP commands exceptional authority and control; his four-seam fastball and curveball strike out most of his opponents.

Riley added that the Giants are in a competitive division and that restructuring the roster by adding players this offseason will be the key to improving next season.

"San Francisco has the need, they have the money, they have the inspiration to be aggressive coming off of last offseason missing out on stars, a down year looking to rebound. The Giants are making it clear that they won't allow another team to outbid them for Yamamoto," Jim Riley said on his podcast.

Yamamoto, a 25-year-old rising star for the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball, caught the eye of club president Farhan Zaidi, who flew abroad to personally scout him after seeing his 1.16 ERA and 0.860 WHIP.

With his exceptional skills, he has the potential to become San Francisco's first true ace in years if he can adapt to the same degree that his former teammate Kodai Senga did with the New York Mets.

Yamamoto's last outing in Japan confirmed his supremacy on the mound even more. In a complete-game victory in the Japan Series, he tossed 138 pitches, struck out 14, and demonstrated why organizations anticipate bidding to approach $200 million.

Giants executives have started acting on that assumption; one stated last month that he believes the price will be "bananas... way more than people think," but they are at ease with the chase.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is an exciting talent

Yamamoto has pitched 557 2/3 innings with an ERA of 1.42 across the last three seasons. He gave up two home runs in 171 innings the previous season. In 2019, Justin Verlander won the Cy Young Award despite allowing 36 home runs. Yamamoto's career spanning seven seasons has seen him give up 36 home runs.

He has demonstrated his capacity to consistently locate all his pitches, dominating batters with excellent command of his pitches and pitch placements. The pitch that produces the most regular swings and misses for Yamamoto is his splitter, which operates in the low nineties.

Along with his classic curveball, he can produce sink, cut, and four-seam movements with his fastball grip.