The 12-year, $325 million deal between the Dodgers and starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto includes two opt-out clauses, and the Associated Press is reporting that the timing of the clauses are dependent on the health of Yamamoto. Specifically, the opt-outs are tied to Yamamoto's elbow.
If Yamamoto has Tommy John surgery or is on the injured list due to a right elbow injury for at least 134 consecutive days at some point from 2024 to 2029, the report says, Yamamoto would not be able to opt out of the deal until after either the 2031 or 2033 World Series.
If he avoids Tommy John surgery and a 134-day stint on the injured list, the opt outs will come after 2029 and 2031. In short: Any significant elbow injury would result in a two-year delay for the opt outs. Yamamoto will be 31 after the 2029 season and opting out at that point would mean passing up on the final six years and $170 million on his deal with LA.
Yamamoto does not have a no-trade clause, but the opt-out clauses give him some control over the long-term deal, should he out-pitch his contract or simply decide he wants a change of scenery. With the prevalence of elbow injuries leading to Tommy John surgery these days, seeing provisions in long-term contracts like this will very likely become more and more common moving forward.
The 25-year-old Yamamoto is a three-time MVP in Japan's NPB. Last season, he was 17-6 with a 1.16 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and 176 strikeouts in 171 innings.
He joins a Dodgers rotation that has Walker Buehler coming off Tommy John surgery while both Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May will start the season on the injured list due to elbow surgeries. Tyler Glasnow, recently acquired in a trade with the Rays, also recently had Tommy John surgery. Yamamoto has never had the procedure, but it's understandable that the Dodgers would put some stipulations in his contract regarding the possibility of a future injury.
