New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is running a full-court press in an attempt to sign Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Cohen hosted Yamamoto at a dinner in his home on Saturday night that included a contingent of Mets personnel.

MLB Trade Rumors originally predicted a nine-year, $225 million deal for Yamamoto in November.

Yamamoto is in a great position to cash in with a deal that far exceeds the initial projections for his contract. The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey reported on Wednesday he's believed to have met with "roughly" 13 different teams via Zoom during his first round of interviews.

The group of teams in that mix includes the Mets, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays. The Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies are among the other clubs that have been connected to him at various points.

When you put teams like the Mets, Yankees and Dodgers up against each other in contract negotiations, the player is likely to come out far ahead.

Per The Athletic's Jim Bowden, Yamamoto has received offers in excess of $300 million from the Giants and Red Sox.

MLB.com's Thomas Harigan has suggested Yamamoto could end up signing the richest deal for a pitcher in MLB history. The current record is Gerrit Cole's nine-year, $324 million contract he signed with the New York Yankees in December 2019.

One of the biggest reasons Yamamoto is looking at such a lucrative deal is age. It's virtually impossible to have a pitcher of his caliber on the open market at 25 years old.

It doesn't hurt that Yamamoto has been so dominant during his seven seasons with the Orix Buffaloes in NPB. He's won the pitching triple crown and Pacific League MVP award in each of the past three seasons.

Yamamoto owns a 1.82 ERA with 922 strikeouts and 0.94 WHIP over 897 innings in 172 career NPB games. He also had a 2.45 ERA and 12 strikeouts in two starts with Japan during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

The Mets are taking a long-term outlook to roster building after their all-in experiment with older players failed spectacularly in 2023. Pairing Yamamoto with Kodai Senga would give them one of the best starting duos in MLB next season, while also setting them up for 2025 and beyond if they can make a deal happen.