Six years ago, the Yankees were eliminated from the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes before the second round even began, when general manager Brian Cashman said they learned Ohtani preferred to sign with a West Coast team.
Now the two-way superstar Ohtani is a free agent again, as is likely the best starting pitcher to head to MLB from Japan since then, Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The right-handed Yamamoto just turned 25 in August and is coming off of three straight sub-2.00 ERA seasons for the Orix Buffaloes in Nippon Professional Baseball.
He went 17-6 with a 1.16 ERA and a WHIP of 0.860 in 171 innings this season.
