Yankees rumors: 3 Yoshinobu Yamamoto backup plans after Brian Cashman's comments
By Curt Bishop
1. New York Mets
Another way Cashman's comments can hurt the Yankees is if Yamamoto ultimately signs with the Mets, their crosstown rivals.
In fact, the Mets are said to be in on Yamamoto. According to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY, New York has checked in on two-way star and former American League MVP Shohei Ohtani, but they ultimately believe that they have no shot to land him.
Yamamoto is expected to be the Mets' backup plan in the event that they don't land Ohtani, who might prefer staying on the West Coast.
New York traded away Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer at the deadline in August, leaving their rotation vulnerable. But Yamamoto could slot in next to Kodai Senga and Jose Quintana, which would give the Mets a chance to potentially bounce back into contention sooner than they expected to.
As Scherzer put it when he was traded to Texas, the Mets had planned on stepping back from contention and bouncing back again by 2026. Their fans will certainly hope that the window opens up again this offseason.
Adding Yamamoto could get the Mets closer to achieving that. And it would certainly hurt for the Yankees to lose out on the right-hander, only for him to land with the Mets.
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