The New York Yankees would want to forget the 2023 season immediately. Being the ‘winningest‘ team in MLB history, a season ending with a losing record is not one that the Pinstripes will be looking forward to. Particularly not of its one to end a 30-year streak of winning seasons for the team. However, the Yankees may be lining up something even more special for the off-season. And it’s different from what you expected.

The eyes of the baseball world are all trained on the free agency of two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani in 2024. With his hitting free agency for the first time since 2018, the star will doubtless be on the move this off-season. Moreover, with his current side crumbling out of contention for a post-season spot yet again. But apparently, if reports are to be believed, they have their eye set on another Japanese wonder, Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, New York Yankees’ Japanese Superstar Target?

Yankees GM is apparently supremely keen on signing on the superstar. Various reports have in fact indicated that the fee could even be higher than the stellar $155 million that the New York Yankees paid to Masahiro Tanaka whom they acquired in 2013 through the same process. Trusted Yankees journalist Joe Randazzo tweeted, Randazzo quoted a source saying,  “GM Cashman is focusing on Yamamoto, who is more realistic, rather than Ohtani, who is difficult to acquire.”

Brian Cashman could have the rare opportunity to redeem himself in the eyes of his fans. While the GM inevitably made a call in the 2017 off-season choosing to sign at the time Miami Marlins star Giancarlo Stanton instead of Shohei Ohtani. While the pick has definitely not panned out the Pinstripes would have been expecting so far, they are not making that mistake again.

Not ready to repeat the mistakes of 2017 again, it appears Brian Cashman has chosen a different target to go hammer and tongs after in the off season for 2024. While planning ahead for the next season is not something that the Yankees will be fearing, some fans may be concerned that the Yankees are seemingly chancing it all on a relative unknown. But wasn’t that what the Angels did in 2017?

The Free Agency Rumor Circulating Around Shohei Ohtani

Randazzo also quoted that the rumor amongst MLB scouts. It being that the 2021 AL MVP is only interested in signing with a team on the West Coast and the Yankees don’t mind bowing out of the race if it means acquiring the young Japanese superstar.

Randazzo’s source said, “Ohtani likes the West Coast and is not considering East Coast teams as a transfer target in the first place, so it seems that the Yankees are quickly in a mode of giving up.”

With a wild post-season ahead for MLB, the signing remain to be seen as to how they will really pan out given the multiple factors involved. However, one thing remains clear.

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If Cashman has not gone after Ohtani once, its seems unlikely that he will pursue the player again in free agency. But if he has made the right decision remains a question that only time will tell.

Read More: Brian Cashman’s Missed Opportunity to Bring “Perfect Fit” Shohei Ohtani to the Yankees Before Bagging Giancarlo Stanton From Derek Jeter-Owned Marlins for $325,000,000