Yoshinobu Yamamoto Contract Should Be Dodgers' Top Offseason Priority amid MLB Rumor

Following a disappointing postseason performance that saw their pitching rotation and bullpen give up 19 runs to the Arizona Diamondbacks in three games and extinguish the 100-win team's World Series aspiration, the Los Angeles Dodgers will almost certainly be looking to bolster its bullpen this offseason.

There is no better option than Nippon Professional Baseball phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the team knows it, reportedly having the 25-year-old on their wish list according to USA Today's Bob Nightingale.

Yamamoto was key to Team Japan's victory in this year's World Baseball Classic and followed up on his performance in that tournament by becoming the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in consecutive seasons.

Aside from the milestone moments, Yamamoto registered an ERA of 1.16 and record of 17-6. He only gave up two home runs, walked the fewest batters in three years (28) and gave up his fewest total runs (27) in that span.

That he is young and has consistently developed and found his command over the last three or four seasons, coupled with his performance in the WBC, has only helped to elevate Yamamoto's stock in the states.

The Dodgers are not the only team looking to add the ace to their lineup.

The Mets and Yankees are also eyeing the right handed hurler, per Nightingale, ensuring there will be a red-hot market for him.

This makes it even more imperative that Los Angeles makes him a priority.

The Dodgers ranked 13th in MLB during the regular season with a team ERA of 4.06. They were 10th in home runs, allowing 200 over the course of 162 games. In the postseason, that ERA blew up to 6.58, the second-worst of all qualifying teams.

The team has too much talent, particularly in Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, for them to make the playoffs every season and fall short. Nightengale reported that the team is the leading candidate to land Shohei Ohtani this offseason and while it is great to have his bat join an already explosive offense, the fact that he will not be available to pitch until 2025 does the Dodgers no favors.

Adding Yamamoto theoretically bolsters the rotation immediately and if he performs up to the level of his friend, the Mets' Kodai Senga (12-7, .298 ERA), the Dodgers will be even better than they were in 2023.

Betts and Freeman played some of the best baseball of their careers in the regular season and the Dodgers cannot afford to waste those performances on disappointing seasons that do not net World Series trophies. Yamamoto is not the solitary answer, but he is a missing piece of the puzzle that the Dodgers would be wise to shill out money for as soon as his December 1 negotiation window opens.