According to Jack Curry of Yes, the New York Yankees are still hopeful about their chances of signing Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

This offseason, the Yankees have already been active, adding outfielders Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo to strengthen a critical position of need. But the next task is strengthening the backup group for superstar Gerrit Cole.

They lost a lot of pitchers in the Soto and Verdugo trades, including Randy Vasquez, Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Jhony Brito, and Richard Fitts, who might have made the rotation in 2024.

Despite his struggles in 2023, Carlos Rodón will still be used occasionally. Likewise with Nestor Cortés. Clarke Schmidt could be the team’s fourth or fifth starter if those two continue to improve, and the rotation should look strong. But then there’s a big question mark.

This offseason, general manager Brian Cashman told Peter Sblendorio of the New York Daily News, We’re in the market for pitching [to] see if we can reinforce it. Although we are happy with the pitching we currently have, we also understand that it is important to add to it if possible. We will carry on having discussions about the rotation-bullpen combination, all of the above, from an insurance perspective or from something proven that you can plug and play with.

The 25-year-old Yamamoto might make the Yankees rotation utterly disgusting. With a 1.21 ERA, 0.88 ERA, and 169 strikeouts in 164 innings during the previous season, he finished 16-6 in Japan’s Pacific League and won the MVP award for the third consecutive year.

The Yankees would have one of the best rotations in the league if he signed with them and his skills translated to the Major League Baseball level.

Naturally, there are a lot of teams vying for Shohei Ohtani’s services after he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, clearing the biggest free agent off the board. The Yankees will have a great argument to be the team with the best winter of any team if they sign Yamamoto, who is probably the next big domino to fall.