Insider Look: Yankees and Mets Compete to Sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto for MLB team

Highly sought after Nippon Professional Baseball pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is set to conduct remote meetings with interested teams via phone or Zoom next week, prior to his return to Japan, as reported by two league sources knowledgeable about his free agency process.

Yamamoto, who is drawing interest from the Yankees, Mets and several other clubs, was put up for posting by his team, the Orix Buffaloes, last Monday.

According to the league sources, Yamamoto will narrow down his options after the initial remote meetings, and then travel back to the United States to meet with final suitors in person following MLB’s Winter Meetings, scheduled for Dec. 4-7 in Nashville.

He has until Jan. 4 — 45 days from posting — to finalize a deal, but it is anticipated that he will make his decision much sooner.

The Yamamoto sweepstakes briefly veered into misinformation on Wednesday, with widespread reports that the pitcher prefers to join a team with a Japanese player already on the roster.

However, Yamamoto’s agent, Joel Wolfe, clarified in a call with Japanese reporters that his client, unlike some other Japanese stars, has no issue playing alongside a fellow NPB export. Translation errors caused the confusion, according to one individual on the call. Wolfe did not respond to a request for further comment.

As previously noted, individuals close to Yamamoto have mentioned his intrigue with the idea of joining the Yankees — but he remains open to various destinations. He has a close relationship with Boston outfielder Masataka Yoshida and San Diego pitcher Yu Darvish.

The Mets are heavily interested in securing the player and will pursue him aggressively.