Are Yankees and Marlins inevitable trade partners after Yoshinobu Yamamoto signing?

Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto is joining forces with fellow Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani, agreeing to a 12-year, $325M deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night. It's the largest guarantee ever given to a conventional pitcher (the two-way Ohtani belongs in a separate category, of course).

The Dodgers' fiercest competition for Yamamoto reportedly came from the New York clubs. The Mets matched the terms of the final deal, per Andy Martino of SNY. The Yankees only bid $300M, but that would've been paid out over the course of 10 years, meaning it came with a superior $30M average annual value.

There have been rumblings that the Miami Marlins are willing to consider trade offers for any of their healthy starters outside of Eury Pérez. With the Yamamoto sweepstakes now concluded, could we see those negotiations intensify?

As Tim Britton and Will Sammon of The Athletic explain, the Mets were fixated on Yamamoto specifically: "the initial expectation is that the Mets will not simply pivot to the next-best available starting pitchers." In the Yankees' case, however, there is an apparent urgency to win now and—more importantly—a supply of young bats that the Marlins might covet.

Peter Bendix is not plunging the Marlins into a rebuild, at least not this offseason. The organization is not aggressively shopping Jesús Luzardo, Braxton Garrett, Trevor Rogers or Edward Cabrera. The rumors regarding these SPs being available are born out of Bendix's long-term confidence in Miami's pitching supply...and his long-term concern about lacking offense. If a fair offer is made centered around an everyday-caliber hitter, then he might sign off on it.

The ideal acquisition for the Marlins would be a young player with a chance to stick at a premium defensive position who's not yet eligible for arbitration. Two Yankees who fit that description and ought to be realistically attainable are infielder Oswald Peraza and catcher Austin Wells.

Peraza was a consensus Top 100 MLB prospect entering last season. Coming up through the Yankees farm system, he slashed .273/.348/.424 (111 wRC+) in parts of six minor league seasons, leading all of their farmhands with 131 stolen bases during that period. He used to be a full-time shortstop, but primarily manned third base when called up to the Bronx in 2023 due to the presence of Anthony Volpe.

Given Peraza's limited major league track record (75 wRC+ and 0.1 fWAR in 70 G), ill-defined role on the 2024 Yankees roster and the fact that he's out of minor league options, the 23-year-old Venezuelan would be an intriguing buy-low candidate.

The price to get Wells is likely steeper. He was a more productive hitter in the minors (career .260/.370/.476 slash line and 128 wRC+) and caught fire at the big league level at the tail end of last season. "Wells has made considerable progress as a receiver and ball-blocker," Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs writes in his newly updated Yankees top prospects list. Also, all of his minor league options are still intact.

I personally wouldn't entertain the idea of a Luzardo blockbuster unless both Peraza and Wells are included in the return.

Whether or not it leads to a sizable trade, let's hope the Yamamoto signing will spur more conversation between the Marlins and pitcher-needy teams so that we get a clearer idea of how the market values these guys.