Giants target Yoshinobu Yamamoto to be posted for MLB teams Monday – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

The market for one of the Giants’ top free-agent targets soon could heat up.

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, Japanese right-handed pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is expected to be posted and available to MLB teams on Monday, which opens his 45-day window to sign with a club.

If Yamamoto is posted Monday, he will be required to sign with a team by Jan. 4 at the latest, or he will return to the Orix Buffaloes in the Nippon Professional Baseball league.

Yamamoto, highly sought-after as a free agent this offseason, boasted a 16-6 record with a microscopic 1.21 ERA and 169 strikeouts to 28 walks in 164 innings pitched with the Buffaloes in the NPB this season.

Regarded as one of the best free-agent pitchers, it’s believed Yamamoto could land a $200-plus million contract with an MLB team this offseason, with the Giants expected to be one of the many potential suitors.

Giants’ president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and general manager Pete Putila even traveled to Japan to scout Yamamoto ahead of free agency, with Zaidi commending the Japanese ace as “one of the top starting pitchers in the world” in an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area.

It’s only a matter of time — 45 days to be exact — before we find out where the 25-year-old ace will begin his MLB career.

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