Mets have ultimate chance to get revenge for Yoshinobu Yamamoto free-agency snub

The 2024 season was supposed to be a reloading one — if not outright rebuilding — for the New York Mets. The team had spent the previous trade deadline selling off some of its biggest-name veterans, and president David Stearns had spent most of his first offseason in charge fiddling around the margins and keeping his powder dry.

New York did make a run at one big name on the open market in particular, however: Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who came to the States as one of the most hotly anticipated international free agents in the history of the sport. Yamamoto seemed sure to be an ace at the Major League level, with a full compliment of wipeout stuff, and at age 26 he seemed to fit within the competitive timeline of just about every team — the Mets very much included. Owner Steve Cohen wanted a big splash, something that would announce New York as the newest big player on the block, and Yamamoto seemed like he could be it.

Until he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite a reportedly massive offer, Yamamoto chose to follow countryman Shohei Ohtani to L.A., leaving New York in the lurch — and seemingly resigned to another mediocre season while the pitcher that got away was off competing for a World Series. That last part proved prescient; Yamamoto and the Dodgers are indeed set to take part in the NLCS on Sunday night. But what we couldn't have predicted is that this series would bring him face to face with the team that he spurned over the winter, and that has a chance to exact some sweet, sweet revenge.

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It's also worth noting that the Mets didn't seem particularly thrilled by Yamamoto's decision. Just listen to how manager Carlos Mendoza responded when asked about the righty's free agency back in April:

That sure sounds like something spicier than "we respect his decision to sign elsewhere". The Mets, for their part, may have wound up better off: While Yamamoto missed a large chunk of the 2024 season due to injury, New York's Plan B in the starting rotation — Luis Severino and Sean Manaea in particular — have been sensational, playing a huge role in the Mets' improbable run to baseball's final four.

The vibes are at an all-time high with New York right now, and odds are that the locker room isn't really thinking about who did or didn't decide to come play for the Mets last winter. But you can bet that it's at the very least in the back of Cohen's mind, a prime chance to convince every pending free agent that they could regret not coming to Queens. Yamamoto likely turned down Cohen's money because of where he thought the team was in its competitive cycle, but New York has the opportunity to prove just how wrong he was in the coming week.