![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/yankees-brian-cashman-must-pay-lefty-max-fried.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The Yankees face a $31.5 million salary obligation to a 32-year-old left-handed pitcher next season, a substantial commitment with implications for their payroll.<\/p>\n
While the New York Yankees<\/a> boast one of baseball\u2019s best rotations, they\u2019re always on the lookout for additional depth.<\/p>\n And according to a recently released report, they\u2019re reportedly at the forefront of landing an intriguing right-handed Japanese prospect.<\/p>\n New York Yankees Reportedly Frontrunners To Land Intriguing Japanese Prospect<\/p>\n \n Per Andr\u00e9s Ch\u00e1vez of SB Nation, the Japanese sports site Hochi Sports is reporting that the Yankees are the frontrunners<\/a> to sign right-handed pitcher Hironari Hiroike.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Yankees are reportedly setting their sights on 21-year-old Japanese right-hander Hironari Hiroike, who pitched at Keio University in Tokyo. The site called the Bombers \u2018the most likely destination\u2019 for the young and talented hurler, who had a 2.88 ERA and a strikeout rate of 11.52 in six games in the Tokyo Big6 Baseball League. With a mid-90s fastball that can reach 97 mph and multiple promising breaking balls, Hiroike wasn\u2019t drafted in the NPB and is expected to sign a minor league deal with an MLB squad.\u201d<\/p>\n Hal Steinbrenner Defends Both Brian Cashman And Aaron Boone<\/p>\n Yankees principal owner Hal Steinbrenner defended general manager Brian Cashman, along with manager Aaron Boone, both of whom faced calls for their replacements by fans.<\/p>\n \u201cCash is great every season,\u201d Steinbrenner said<\/a>. \u201cI mean, I think the roster he put together, the team that we rolled out of spring training with, was as good as any in baseball, in my opinion.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a lot of bumps and bruises along the way, but the team was fantastic. And I thought it was a world championship team.<\/p>\n \u201cTalking about this season, I thought Boone managed a good season, especially with the pitching staff. We had a lot of additions and subtractions in the rotation throughout the course of the season. Our bullpen was absolutely exhausted by the end of the season. He got through all that and he got us to the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMichael Whitaker<\/a> Michael Whitaker is a sports journalist based in metro Detroit with nearly a full decade of experience with publications like Clutch Points and The Hockey News. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Eastern Michigan University. More about Michael Whitaker<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The Yankees face a $31.5 million salary obligation to a 32-year-old left-handed pitcher next season, a substantial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8,17],"class_list":["post-121211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-japan","tag-japan","tag-japanese"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/american-league-wild-card-series-boston-red-sox-v-new-york-yankees-8.jpg\")
GettyNEW YORK, NEW YORK \u2013 SEPTEMBER 29: A New York Yankees hat sits during batting practice prior to Game One of the American League Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox<\/a> at Yankee Stadium on September 29, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Caleb Bowlin\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n