The San Francisco Giants have missed out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
According to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, Yamamoto will not sign with the Giants and has instead narrowed his focus to Los Angeles (Dodgers) or New York (Mets, Yankees). While he states he's considering Los Angeles, the Angels have not been considered in the running for Yamamoto.
It's a brutal blow for a pitcher who was viewed as perhaps the most enticing free agent on the market.
The right-hander has until January 4 to sign with an MLB team, who will also owe a sizable posting fee to the Buffaloes. It'll amount to 20 percent of his contract's first $25 million, 17.5 percent of the following $25 million, then 15 percent of any other money, per MLB.
Giants fans can at least take some solace in the fact that their first major offseason signing, 25-year-old South Korean outfielder Jung Hoo Lee - who signed a reported six-year, $113 million deal - faced Yamamoto in the World Baseball Classic and performed well. In their lone matchup, Lee went 2-for-3 with a double off the right field wall, a strikeout and a single down the right field line.
They may have to lean on Lee to repeat those performances if Yamamoto ends up with Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers.