New report suggests Red Sox have not offered $300 million for Yoshinobu Yamamoto

BOSTON -- A couple of reports over the weekend got Red Sox fans excited, as they stated that the team had made an offer for Yoshinobu Yamamoto worth more than $300 million.

It seems as though those reports were not accurate.

That's based on new reporting by ESPN's Jeff Passan, who called reports of any team offering in excess of $300 million "inaccurate."

"Multiple high-ranking officials trying to sign Yamamoto told ESPN that teams were asked to give a preliminary bid at the start of the process to ensure they were serious -- but not necessarily in the neighborhood of where the deal is likely to land," Passan reported Monday. "Since then, those officials say, his agent, Joel Wolfe, has not solicited a new round of bids. Some teams, sources said, were interested in talking dollars recently but were asked not to do so yet; the expectation is that teams will start proposing contract terms as early as Monday."

Passan said that the exact dollar amount of Yamamoto's eventual deal will depend on what the pitcher is looking for in terms of contract length. 

"He could sign a seven-year deal and hit free agency again at 32," Passan said. "He could target a 10-year contract but request an opt-out after the fourth season and be back on the market at 29. Teams could try to lock him up to a lifetime deal -- a dozen years or more -- that would dampen the competitive-balance-tax hit by lowering the average annual value of the contract."

Clearly, there's much that still needs to get hammered out on the Yamamoto front -- both from the player and the teams interested in signing him -- before concrete reports of deals and offers can be considered.