MLB fans trash rumors suggesting Phillies still 'in' on Yoshinobu Yamamoto: "Whats their payroll? 600 million?"

As Yoshinobu Yamamoto became available to the MLB, teams lined up to get hold of his services. The Philadelphia Phillies are one of the teams giving the most effort as they look to boost their starting rotation in hopes of getting the franchise's third World Series.

Yamatoto was a big force in the Nippon Professional League. In seven years with the Orix Buffaloes the ace racked up a 75-30 record, 1.72 ERA, and 986/216 K/BB ratio. He won the Sawamura award (Japan's Cy Young) three times and had also been named the Pacific League MVP two times.

According to multiple reports, Phillies and Aaron Nola agreed on a seven-year, $172 million contract on Sunday. But had plans fallen apart from them, Yamamoto seemed to be the most obvious choice.

Now MLB analysts are suggesting that despite Nola's signing. the Phillies are going all in to sign Yamamoto. This will significantly boost their starting rotation to a great extent as they already have Zach Wheeler among their ranks.

But baseball fans are wary of how much the Phillies can put in as Yamamoto is expected to receive many offers. They took to X to voice their opinions.

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"What's their payroll? 600 million?" one fan wrote.

Here are a few other reactions:

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Does Yoshinobu Yamamoto prefer the West Coast?

The 25-year-old ace already has a dozen odd teams in contact with his agent. The most prominent of them remain the New York Yankees, the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers along with the Phillies.

But just like his Japanese counterpart Shohei Ohtani, who back in 2017 chose to play for the Los Angeles Angels, Yoshinobu Yamamoto might have his preferences set towards West Coast teams. It depends on how well other teams 'pitch' their case to him.

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