4 free agents Chicago Cubs can sign to win 2024 World Series

Chicago Cubs should sign this international phenom

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer was on hand to scout Yoshinobu Yamamoto in early September, meaning he is quite familiar with what the Japanese phenom has to offer. The only issue with potentially signing him is the number of teams already interested in the 25-year-old. Back then, Hoyer played coy about the entire matter.

“It’s a great baseball culture,” Hoyer said. “Obviously, they have a lot of really good players. Making sure that’s a market that we are actively involved in is something that’s really important.”

So far, the biggest contenders for Yamamoto appear to be the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers, though at least four other teams have been connected to the Japanese hurler. It seems more than likely Yamamoto receives a more lucrative contract than the five-year, $75 million deal Kodai Senga signed with the Mets last offseason. Yamamoto really showed out in front of scouts, even tossing a no-no in front of the Yankees and Cubs.

Yamamoto would fill a major need in the Chicago rotation. He's an unproven commodity in MLB terms, but the success rate of Japanese pitchers in the states has improved the last few years. Look no further than Senga and Ohtani.