Yankees or Mets would have signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto, his friends say. But here's what happened

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto has a 2.91 ERA. AP By Jimmy Hascup | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com The Yankees and Mets can blame a two-way superstar for failing to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the offseason. Despite their best efforts , Yamamoto chose with the Los Angeles Dodgers on a 12-year, $325 million deal. According to USA TODAY Sports' Bob Nightengale , one of the New York teams would have landed Yamamoto otherwise if not for Shohei Ohtani, who is also Japanese and signed a 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers weeks before . MORE YANKEES COVERAGE Yankees GM Brian Cashman's daughter is making her YES debut Why Yankees were so encouraged by Aaron Judge's power