Joel Wolfe, an agent with the agency Wasserman, expects starting pitching to be in high demand in the upcoming Major League Baseball offseason.
“Every team needs a starting pitcher,” Wolfe told reporters on the sidelines of the Major League Baseball General Managers’ meetings at a resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Aug. 8 (KST).
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who is also the agent for the upcoming major leaguer, shared his thoughts on the starting pitching market, saying, “With Ohtani unable to pitch next season due to injury, teams that have experienced or aspire to the postseason will want a starting pitcher.”
Agent Joel Wolf gives an interview. Photo: MK Sports DB
“The pace of signings will vary from player to player,” he said, but “there’s a lot of demand for starters, and there are a lot of good starters on the market,” and he expects the starting pitching free agent market to be active.
“There’s a lot of demand for starting pitching, and it’s going to continue to grow, because teams that made the postseason and teams that missed the postseason want starting pitching,” said Darvish, who represents Japanese starters such as Yu Darvish and Kodai Senga. They’re thinking, ‘If we can add one or two starting pitchers, we can go to the postseason next season,'” he said.
“The valuation of starting pitching is a lot different than it used to be. Some teams, like the Tampa Bay Rays, are using their starters in different ways. Some teams, like the Tampa Bay Rays, are utilizing their starters in different ways. They believe that the traditional approach of having a five-man rotation and having one guy start 28 to 32 games is no longer working,” he said, explaining that the changing valuation of starters is also having an impact.토토사이트
He also recounted his experience traveling to Japan in October with his client Ras Nutba, who represented Japan in the last World Baseball Classic.
“It was like being accompanied by Justin Bieber,” he said. “At first, people didn’t recognize him, but then they started to recognize him, especially the older people, saying, ‘Nutba? Nutba?’ The more we went, the more people recognized him.”
He said he’s had two to three events a day in Japan, and it’s become quite popular. “When you go to Japan, you see Otani’s face everywhere, and now you see Nutba’s face. I was on the train and there was an advertisement with Nutba on it,” he said.
Yamamoto is looking to break into the big leagues. Photo: MK Sports DB
He also gave updates on his clients, mostly Japanese players. Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki is “looking forward to a normal spring training,” while Senga is “looking forward to helping younger players as a senior,” he said.
As for Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, who is trying to get back into the big leagues, he said, “I could have gone back to Japan, but I chose to stay here. Even in the independent leagues, he never gave up,” he said, praising his efforts. “I think I’ll be able to sign (with a major league team) soon,” he said, adding that he is looking for a contract to attend camp as an invitee.
Darvish Yu, whose season ended prematurely due to an elbow injury, was positive: “He will be re-examined in two weeks, but for now, he is training well without any problems.”
No questions were asked about Yamamoto, the biggest question mark of the meeting. The reason was that it hadn’t been officially posted yet.