While the competition to recruit right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Orix Buffaloes of the Japanese professional baseball team is heating up, the New York Mets have taken an unconventional move.

New York-area media such as ‘New York Post’ and ‘SNY’ cited sources on the 18th (Korean time) and reported that Mets owner Steve Cohen invited Yamamoto to his house and treated him to dinner.

Team owner Cohen invited Yamamoto to his mansion in Connecticut on Saturday evening local time.

It is reported that the Cohen couple, David Stearns, president of baseball operations, manager Carlos Mendoza, and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner were present at the event.

It is common for big-time free agent players like Yamamoto to personally visit teams they are interested in, but it is rare for them to visit the owner’s home in person.

This means that the Mets are showing strong interest. Team owner Cohen previously flew to Japan to meet Yamamoto, and this time he seems to be putting a lot of effort into inviting him to his home.

According to SNY, no offer has yet been made. Negotiations are expected to accelerate in the near future.

The New York Post reported that the Mets are looking at a long-term perspective beyond the 2024 season, and in this sense, are showing a lot of interest in the young Yamamoto.

The media introduced that if the Mets fail to recruit Yamamoto, they plan to turn their attention to starters who can sign cheaper contracts in a short period of time instead of other top starting free agents such as Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell.스포츠토토 .