Report: Phillies meeting with pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto

Right-handed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto met with a Phillies contingent on Thursday, according to a report by the New York Post’s Jon Heyman.

Yamamoto, 25, has met with multiple teams, including the Mets, Yankees, and Dodgers. He posted a 1.82 ERA with 922 strikeouts over seven seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan.

Yamamoto could command as much as $300 million. Signing him would run counter to what the Phillies have publicly said they want to do this offseason — improve along the margins. Nevertheless, sources have said that they have remained interested in Yamamoto — even after signing Aaron Nola to a seven-year contract in November.

» READ MORE: The Phillies are counting on their investment in a Dominican academy to pay off. Here are seven players to watch.

The Phillies finished last season at a payroll around $265 million, and after Nola’s $172 million deal, they will be close to the 2024 competitive balance tax threshold of $237 million.

They’d have to clear some payroll to make it work, and it’s unlikely that the Phillies would be a top bidder for Yamamoto. But there is little risk in engaging his camp. Yamamoto is one of the most accomplished pitchers in NPB history.

He’s a three-time Pacific League MVP, has won the Eiji Sawamura Award — Japan’s version of the Cy Young Award — three times, and has won two Pacific League Gold Gloves.

He has a five pitch arsenal: a split-finger, a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, a curveball and a cutter/slider. His velocity in his 2023 season was in the 94-95 mph range but rose to 98-99 mph in the playoffs.