The Los Angeles Dodgers have been Major League Baseball’s most active team this offseason, by far, spending over a billion dollars to sign two-way star Shohei Ohtani and starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto to long-term contracts.
Yamamoto’s record-setting 12-year $325 million deal turned heads, as the 25-year-old Japanese star has never pitched in MLB before, spending his first seven years as a pro in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league.
Thanks to a report from the Associated Press we now know a key detail of Yamamoto’s record-setting deal.
“If Yamamoto has Tommy John surgery or is on the injured list for a right elbow injury for 134 consecutive service days from 2024-29, he would have the right to opt-out after the 2031 and 2033 World Series,” the report states.
However, the report also states “If Yamamoto avoids Tommy John surgery and doesn’t miss that much time with an elbow issue during that window, he can instead opt out after the 2029 and 2031 World Series.”
It’s a worthwhile risk for both sides. If Yamamoto has five injury-free seasons he can opt out and enter free agency at age 30, and could likely get another record-breaking contract from the Dodgers or another team, as the record will likely have been surpassed by then.
The Dodgers also likely want some sort of security after seeing pitchers Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, and Walker Buehler go down with elbow injuries in the past couple of seasons.
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