NEW YORK — If there was any remaining query about how strongly Yoshinobu Yamamoto needs the problem of a giant highlight, it was answered for supervisor Aaron Boone early of their first assembly, when the standout right-hander requested for a scouting report on the Yankees’ most formidable rivals.
“We talked about some completely different rivalries, what the stadium is like in a playoff setting or for large regular-season video games towards the Pink Sox,” Boone stated on Thursday. “We open the common season in Houston. So we talked about these issues. You might see these competitors issues form of gentle him up slightly bit.”
Yamamoto and his agent, Joel Wolfe, met with a Yankees contingent that included Boone, managing normal associate Hal Steinbrenner, crew president Randy Levine, normal supervisor Brian Cashman and pitching coach Matt Blake on Dec. 11 at a mansion within the Hollywood Hills.
They met once more on Sunday in Manhattan, in keeping with Boone, who was within the Bronx on Thursday to take part in a pop-up vacation occasion distributing meals and toys with the NYPD’s forty fourth Precinct and the Meals Financial institution for New York Metropolis.
“He’s a particular dude,” Boone stated of Yamamoto. “There’s some presence to him; snug in his pores and skin and assured, however a humility to him. It’s simply been good to get to know him in much less formal environments, the place you may form of let your palms drop and simply have actual conversations. It’s been enjoyable to do this.”
Boone stated that the Yankees included Hideki Matsui, a particular advisor to Cashman, as a part of their pitch. Matsui didn’t attend in particular person, however he recorded a video message for Yamamoto and despatched an autographed jersey.
The Yankees additionally offered a pinstriped No. 18 jersey, which is Yamamoto’s most popular quantity.
“I gave him that jersey. It’s his if he desires to maintain it,” Boone stated.
Boone stated that his major takeaway from the conferences with Yamamoto was that “he desires to be nice.”
“He’s been wanting ahead to this,” Boone stated. “He’s a man which you can actually see may be very invested in his craft. There’s some similarities between him and Gerrit [Cole] in how devoted and disciplined and all-in they’re on pitching, baseball, their physique and the way to achieve success. Totally different personalities, completely different individuals, however that obsession with their craft got here throughout.”
The Yankees face wholesome competitors because the 25-year-old Yamamoto appears to be like to whittle down his record of golf equipment earlier than a Jan. 4 deadline. There had been hypothesis that Yamamoto supposed to signal earlier than Christmas, however that now appears to be like much less sure.
A 3-time Sawamura Award winner in Japan, the equal of the Cy Younger Award, Yamamoto has additionally drawn important consideration from the Dodgers, Giants, Mets, Phillies and Pink Sox.
“We’ll see the way it goes,” Boone stated. “I do know all of the groups are actually placing their finest foot ahead and negotiating. That’s above my pay grade, so we’ll see the place it lands.”