The Astros, Blue Jays, Pirates, and Yankees “are still in the bidding for” right-hander Yariel Rodriguez, indicating that the market for his services is still expanding. This was reported earlier this week by reporter Francys Romero. Before Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed a contract with the Dodgers, Romero made a post in which he implied that Rodriguez’s suitors were first waiting for Yamamoto to sign.
Right-hander Yariel Rodriguez is being bid on by the Astros, Blue Jays, Pirates, and Yankees, who “are still in the bidding for” him, suggesting that interest in his services is still growing. Reporter Francys Romero reported this earlier this week. Romero published a post before Yoshinobu Yamamoto finalised a deal with the Dodgers, insinuating that Rodriguez’s suitors were first waiting for Yamamoto to sign.
It should be emphasised that Romero made no mention of the fact that Rodriguez was considering these four teams as finalists or that any other known suitors were eliminated. Romero’s first report about Rodriguez in early November listed the Astros, Jays, Pirates, and Yankees as among the 10 interested teams. Later reports about Rodriguez added the Rays, Red Sox, and Padres to that group, which also included the Dodgers, Giants, Mets, Phillies, Rangers, and White Sox.
Given that Rodriguez has pitched in Cuba for the majority of his career, that he primarily worked out of the bullpen with the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball from 2020 to 22 and that he missed the entire 2023 season (save for the World Baseball Classic) while attempting to get out of his contract with the Dragons, Rodriguez is a bit of a wild card in the free-agent pitching market. Though Rodriguez doesn’t turn 27 until March, MLBTR projected him for a four-year, $32 million contract and ranked him 28th on our list of the top 50 free agents in the summer due to his intriguing potential as a starter.
