JAPANESE STUD YAMAMOTO SETS RECORD AS MLB FREE AGENCY LOOMS

It's a good time to be Yoshinobu Yamamoto right now. He's grabbed the spotlight at the right time, just before he becomes a MLB free agent and everyone is watching, eagerly.

The Orix Buffaloes ace set a record in Game 6 of the Japan Series, with 14 strikeouts and no walks over 138 pitches in a 5-1 complete-game victory over the Hanshin Tigers to force a decisive seventh game. His 14 strikeouts broke Yu Darvish's previous milestone of 13 strikeouts back in 2007. You can read more about it HERE.

This is the perfect event to add even more hype around Yamamoto's impending MLB posting by the Orix Buffaloes this winter. Yamamoto has a 16-8 record with a 1.21 ERA and 169 strikeouts in 164 innings. It is expected that bigging will start at $200 million over six or seven years which would surpass the $155 million that Masahiro Tanaka received from the Yankees back in 2014.

The Yankees need more rotation help, and they've already been connected to several names. They will always be tied to several names whether it is credible or not just because it's the Yankees. I like the idea of adding an ace to strengthen the rotation.... but are the Yankees a good fit for Yamamoto?

I definitely want him to be, but the Yankees are a hot mess right now. I am not sure the success they had with Tanaka, is realistic right now. Nothing is ever guaranteed, but the Yankees are so lost right now. I don't have confidence they won't ruin him. We've already seen the Yankees tamper and ruin some talent; Deivi Garcia was the perfect example. They tinkered with him and tried to make him into something he wasn't, and it didn't end well. We covered it in ANALYTICS FAILED DEIVI GARCIA AND NOW THERE IS PROOF!

Yamamoto will have a new league to get used to, and if the Yankees are fortunate enough to outbid everyone else and gain Yamamoto's arm in the rotation that would be huge. I just don't have faith that the Yankees won't ruin him, too. We've seen it before. 

The Yankees are too analytics driven and are too good at using them incorrectly and I don't think they are willing to change their ways. I just hope it won't damage Yamamoto....or anyone else.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj