The Dodgers Have Signed Japanese Ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto To A Massive 12 Year, 325 Million Dollar Deal

The Los Angeles Dodgers are officially not fucking around. They took last year's sweep in the NLDS in the hands of the Diamondbacks personally. I enjoy making fun of the Dodgers' postseason woes, but I give them credit year in and year out for going for it. I wish more organizations were like that. I've been big on Yamamoto for a minute. I think he's far and away the best pitcher on the market, and that includes last year's NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell. This guy has what it takes to be an ace at this level. With that said, over 300 million? I understand that much of Ohtani's contract is deferred payments, but the fact that the Dodgers have spent $1 billion on two players this offseason is bananas.

The Dodgers can try to deny it all they want and act like they're above it all, but the fact that they haven't won a World Series championship in a full season since 1988 is a blight on their legacy. It feels like they consistently have the best team in baseball and are rarely ever able to get it done. Last year, they got completely embarrassed in the NLDS, and the biggest reason for it was because their starting pitching was banged up, and the guys that did pitch were terrible. As valuable as Shohei Ohtani is, he'll be unable to pitch next year; the Dodgers have gone out and acquired Tyler Glasnow and now Yamamoto. It's always a roll of the dice with Glasnow, but assuming Walker Buehler comes back and returns to Cy Young form, we're talking about one of the best rotations in all of baseball. 

I've already seen some people on my timeline upset about this, but I just can't be. People may want a salary cap in baseball, but it's never going to happen. The Dodgers have set themselves up to be World Series favorites of 2024. As frustrating as it may be to see the rich teams get richer, there's more parity in baseball than in any other sport, as we haven't had a repeat champion since the Yankees in 1999 and 2000. 

Either the Dodgers win it all and fulfill their destiny, or they'll flame out. You could put together the most talented group possible, but there's still an insane amount of luck involved in this game. An 84-win team made it to the World Series last year. People can bitch and moan all they want about a team like this splurging in free agency, but nothing is guaranteed. They'll still have to earn it, but this is a big step for the Dodgers.